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Time and Attendance Webservices Frequently Asked Questions


What is Time and Attendance web services used for?
How do I get help beyond this document?
What do I need to access this system?
How do I get help beyond this document?
What do I need to access this system?
How to lookup my UNI account?
How to activate/reset my UNI password?
What does Time Available - Expires June 30th (Estimate) refer to?
What is "Time Used - Since July 1st"?
What are "Accruals toward next fiscal year"?
How accurate are the balances shown in the Time and Attendance Reference Box?
How do I submit time usage records for months where no time was taken?
Can this tool be used for future planning within a work group?
How do I submit time usage records for months where no time was taken?
How can I correct a time sheet after it has been approved?
What are the day type acronyms mean in the time sheet view?

Answers

What is Time and Attendance web services used for?
It is a mechanism for eligible employees to submit the time they have taken off for vacation, sick, personal, and others. The time sheets are approved by the supervisors. It is a simple interface for the supervisors to approve employees time and attendance time sheets, and eliminate redundant data entry by the employees, supervisors, and the HR staff. It is also an accurate and simple reporting system for the LDEO HR at the end of fiscal year, required by Columbia policy. Finally this processed was used to lay the infrastructure for future HR web application.
How do I get help beyond this document?
  • Read the Manual
  • Questions regarding the HRs policy/usage issues can be directed to personnel@admin.ldeo.columbia.edu
  • Comments/Suggestions for the future design and enhancements can be sent to Mahdad Parsi at mahdad@ldeo.columbia.edu
  • Bug reports can be send directly to request@ldeo.columbia.edu
  • What do I need to access this system?
  • Latest version of Firefox browser
  • Columbia User ID (UNI)
  • Access to emails via your UNI
  • How to lookup my UNI account?
    http://www.columbia.edu/acis/access/secure/uni.html
    How to forward my UNI emails to Lamont?
    http://www.columbia.edu/acis/email/delivery/
    How to activate/reset my UNI password?
    Send a request for request@ldeo.columbia.edu
    What does Time Available - Expires June 30th (Estimate) refer to?
    Time Available lists your total vacation, personal and sick* days as of July 1st of the current fiscal year. These days are your unused accruals from the previous fiscal year, and Time Available in each category on July 1st cannot exceed your maximum annual accruals. (See the expanded information below for more detail regarding vacation, personal and sick* day accruals.)
    What is "Time Used - Since July 1st"?
    The numbers in this box indicate vacation, personal and sick time taken since July 1st of the current fiscal year. These numbers are automatically deducted from the Time Available reference box at the top so as you use days, you have less Time Available. (Adding Time Available and Time Used tells you what your starting totals were on July 1st.)
    What are "Accruals toward next fiscal year"?
    Accruals toward next fiscal year are vacation, personal and sick* time earned during the current fiscal year for use in the following fiscal year. NOTE: With supervisory approval, vacation time may be used as it is earned. Each July 1st the accruals in this field will be rolled forward to become your Time Available for the new fiscal year (minus any negative Time Used numbers if you used time accrued during the current year).

    *Sick day totals are included for support staff only since officer sick time is not based on accruals.

    Vacation time
    Regular staff members accrue vacation allowance on a fiscal year basis (July 1st through June 30th - commencing with the completion of the probationary period for support staff and with the first full month worked for officers) and, with supervisory approval, may use vacation days as they are earned. The total allowance earned in any one fiscal year must be used by June 30th of the year following accrual. In other words, no employee can enter a new fiscal year with more than the maximum days they earn in one year carried forward. An employee can only receive pay in lieu of unused vacation upon termination (or upon written request during an unpaid leave of absence).

    Personal Time
    Three days termed Floating Holidays are observed as paid leave time. Floating Holidays are earned at the rate of one paid leave day for each four-month period worked starting from the day of employment. Floating Holidays may be used by an employee to observe religious holidays or for any other purpose. Earned Floating Holidays may not accumulate; they must be used within twelve months of the earned date.

    Sick Time Accruals (Support Staff only)
    Employees, after thirty (30) days of employment, shall be entitled to paid sick leave earned at the rate of one (1) days for each month of employment, retroactive to date of hire, up to a maximum of twelve (12) days per year.

  • Employees, after one (1) or more years of employment with the University shall be entitled to a total of twelve (12) additional days of sick leave as of the beginning of his/her second and each subsequent year of employment, provided that at no time will an Employee be entitled to accumulate more than sixty (60) working days of sick leave during any one year, including the days earned or to be earned in the current sick leave year. (Employees hired prior to 10/21/94 earn sick time at a different rate and should check the online policy manual; see link below.)

  • Under certain circumstances, employees may be required to show proof of sickness from their own physician or a physician designated by Columbia University.

  • Employees are required to notify their supervisor of any absence no later than one hour after the start of the employee's normal work day.
  • Employees may not charge absences to unearned sick leave.
  • Employees do not earn sick leave during leaves of absence.
  • Employees are not eligible for sick leave when ill during a vacation period.
  • Accumulated sick leave is not paid upon termination.


    Employees who wish to read the entire time away from work policy for Columbia should go to the following link:

    http://www.hr.columbia.edu/hr/policies/policymanual/timeawayfromwork/index.html
  • How accurate are the balances shown in the Time and Attendance Reference Box?
    The main use of this application is to track paid absences. Total balance numbers are an estimate since the "to date" accrual mechanisms are not fully implemented. You may obtain your overall totals (accumulated and accrued) by contacting the HR Department.
    Can this tool be used for future planning within a work group?
    Currently, the available time sheets for submission are up to (not including) the current month. For example, in April 2006, the available time sheets are from July 2005 through the end of March 2006. The April 2006 time sheet becomes available when April ends. Various desktop calendaring systems can be used for this purpose. Centrally, you can use http://ldeocal.ldeo.columbia.edu to manage your calendar.
    How do I submit time usage records for months where no time was taken?
    For those months where no days were taken, staff will submit a time sheet without any absences. An email will go to supervisors for approval as usual. Supervisors will see vacation, sick, personal, and other time usage values set to zero. Once approved, that month will become part of the annual time usage record verifying zero deductions.
    How can I correct a time sheet after it has been approved?
    The corrected time sheet needs to be submitted to the LDEO HR department through your supervisor in an email or paper format. The LDEO HR will process the new time sheet to reflect the correct balances.
    What are the day type acronyms mean in the time sheet view?
  • Vacation - Indicates a vacation day off work
  • Sick - Indicates a sick day off work
  • Personal - Indicates a personal day off work
  • Other Options: PL - Personal Leave of Absence
  • CT - Compensatory Time
  • WC - Workers Compensation
  • J - Jury Duty
  • Other Options: D - Death in the Family
  • O - Other
  • MWP - Military Leave with Pay
  • MWOP - Military Leave without Pay

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