With the release of sharedHR 7.5 our clients will not only benefit from the ongoing content updates and site enhancements that continue to make sharedHR the most comprehensive, easy-to-use Human Resource Management System available, but we are pleased to offer a consolidated, user friendly interface for the Paid Time Off Tracking feature, plus improved reporting.

To take advantage of all that sharedHR 7.5 has to offer, please review the details and recommended next steps below.  Additionally, members of our Client Services department are happy to help assist your efforts to utilize the new model documents and enhanced features now available to your organization.

Paid Time Off Tracking – New Consolidated Interface

A new section has been added to the "Admin Tools" menu called Add / Maintain Paid Time Off Data.  Now you can go to one place and manage all the functionality of sharedHR’s Paid Time Off Tracking feature.  This consolidated interface replaces the functionality previously found in several places on the sharedHR site and adds new features, which provide for a more intuitive and automated paid time off tracking system.

Add / Maintain Paid Time Off Data includes the following sub-options, which are detailed below:

1. View Paid Time History
2. Record Accruals
3. Record Paid Time Activity
4. Record Manual Adjustments
5. Update Rate History

1. View Paid Time Off History
This link takes the administrator directly to the existing Paid Time Off History – By Employee report previously found on the Update Employee Paid Time Off Values screen’s Individual tab under Update Company Information.  All of the employee’s accrual and usage history will be viewable on the report, with “Edit” links to allow for the modification of the data. 

There have been a number of enhancements made to this report based on requests from our clients.  Please let us know what you think!

2. Record Accruals
This link takes the administrator to the existing Update Vacation/Sick/PTO Accruals screen, renamed, and is used to trigger accrual updates for the specified period.

3. Record Paid Time Off Activity
The previous record screen, Record Time Off / Leave of Absences Activity has been split into two separate screens:

Record Paid Time Off Activity is used to record the use of applicable Vacation, Sick or PTO benefits and subtract the hours accordingly from the employee’s available balance.

Record Leave of Absence Activity is still located under Add / Maintain Employee Data in "Admin Tools" and is solely used to track the type and the dates when an employee takes a leave of absence unrelated to the use of Vacation, Sick or PTO benefits.

4. Record Manual Adjustment
This link brings up an updated record screen that encompasses the functionality of the existing Record A Manual Adjustment screen previously located on the Group tab of Update Employee Paid Time Off Values under Update Company Information.    This screen is used to document changes to employee’s paid time off history by adding or reducing hours to either or both the available and used hours balances. 

5. Update Accrual Rate History
This link takes you directly to the PTO tab within the Add / Maintain Employee Data section of sharedHR.  This screen has been simplified to manage accrual rates and maximum (not to exceed) number of accrued hours by the type of paid time off benefit (i.e. vacation, sick, or PTO) established for each employee.

Report Enhancements
Several of the reports relating to the Paid Time Off system have been modified for clarity and utility:

Paid Time Off History – By Employee – as mentioned above, this report can be accessed either from the Add / Maintain Paid Time Off Data section of the site, or from the Reports Index. This report is made available both as a General and Management report. The “Last Updated” column title was changed to “Accrual Updated As Of” to reflect the more meaningful specified period ending date rather than the processed date.

Paid Time Off Accrual History Report – “Period End Date” rather than the actual processed date now sorts this report and the column order has been updated for easier interpretation of the data presented on the report.  There is also a new “Sort By” option on the Report Settings screen.

Paid Time Off Benefits- both the General and Management versions of this report have been updated to include new details including: “Tenure”, “Accrual Maximum”, and “Hours Remaining Until Max Is Reached”.  Lastly, like the Paid Time Off History – By Employee report, the “Last Updated” column was renamed to ”Accrual Updated As Of” for ease of understanding the information on the report.

New and Updated Model Documents

In addition to the new or revised documents listed below, we have added or updated several other state specific documents on the site. To take full advantage of these updates you will want to review the summary details of your library documents. Pay particular attention to the documents with a red date in the Last Updated column indicate that the sharedHR model is new or has been more recently updated than your custom version.

• New Hire Introduction to SharedHR introduces the new hire employee to sharedHR, provides login information, and guides them through the steps to access new hire documents, the company handbook and other information regarding their employment with the company.  Of course, you may modify as appropriate.
  
  
• New Model Performance Review Form
  • Reviews are now easily created in an online, electronic document, making it even easier to upload to sharedHR - no scanning required.
  • The review forms are updated for more meaningful categories and rating structure, which promotes consistency among the company.
  •  Allows managers to establish documented goals and objectives and give appropriate weight to different performance factors.
    
    
• Employee Withholding Allowance Certificates are now available for states in addition to California.
  
  
• 2005 Form W-9 for Independent Contractors has been added to the Independent Contractor package located under Compliance & Training library documents.

If you need assistance with any of sharedHR’s newest features, please contact .