I. POLICY:

It is the policy of the Division of Administration (DOA) to provide a uniform procedure for the electronic certification (eCertification) of employee Time Statements. Compliance with this procedure will ensure that Time Statements are processed effectively and efficiently, and also reduce the amount of paper required to do so.

II. APPLICABILITY:

This policy applies to all employees in all sections of the DOA.

III. DEFINITIONS

IV. PROCEDURE:

1. The DOA requires that all Employees contemporaneously enter leave requests into LEO throughout the pay period. Doing so serves to ensure the accuracy of attendance and leave usage records. All leave is to be requested by the Employee, approved by the supervisor, then used.
2. All DOA Employees, regardless of their work status on Payroll Monday, are required each pay period to utilize the eCertification process to review and process Time Statements in accordance with this procedure. Failure to adhere to these requirements will not be excused because an Employee was on authorized leave, on leave without pay, or otherwise not on duty on Payroll Monday.
3. After 1:00 p.m. every Payroll Monday, Employees receive an automated email reminder to review their Time Statements. Employees are required to access LEO, select and review the Time Statement for the pay period, and either "Certify" or "Decline" the Time Statement. If certified, the Approver will receive notification that the certified Time Statement is ready for review. If declined, the Employee is required to promptly contact his Timekeeper and supervisor to have the time entries corrected.
4. After Time Statements are certified, Approvers receive an automated email reminder to review their subordinates' Time Statements. Using LEO, Approvers are required to select and review the Time Statement for the pay period, and either "Approve" or "Reject" it. If approved, the Time Statement will be processed for payroll purposes utilizing the information therein. If rejected, Approvers are to promptly direct their Employee to revise the Time Statement in collaboration with his Timekeeper. Once corrected, the Employee must Certify the Time Statement.
5. On Payroll Monday, if an Approver does not receive an automated email reminder that an Employee for whom he is responsible has certified his Time Statement, the Approver is required to contact and direct the Employee to Certify or Decline the Time Statement. If not promptly certified or declined by the Employee, the Approver shall notify the Timekeeper and the Approver's supervisor.
6. Action must be taken on Time Statements no later than 10:00 p.m. on the Wednesday following Payroll Monday. If no action is taken by that time, Time Statements will be locked, thus preventing certification and/or approval. To unlock a Time Statement, Employees should contact their Timekeeper. If a Time Statement is unlocked and again no action taken by the following Wednesday, it will be automatically locked again.
7. If corrections to a Time Statement are necessary after payroll runs, the Employee and supervisor are required to contact the Timekeeper to request that a prior period adjustment (PPA) be processed for the required corrections.
8. If a PPA is entered by the Timekeeper, the Employee will receive an automated email notice that time entries have been changed after the Time Statement was certified. This will generate a second version of the Time Statement reflecting the PPA entries. The Employee is required to certify and the Approver is required to approve the revised Time Statement.
9. Timekeepers are required to run ZP 241 reports on the Tuesday after Payroll Monday for purposes of identifying Employees who failed to Certify/Decline their Time Statements, Approvers who failed to Approve/Reject Time Statements and Time Statements requiring PPAs. Timekeepers also use ZP 241 reports to locate locked Time Statements. If the ZP 241 indicates an Employee has a locked Time Statement or one that has not been certified, the Timekeeper must notify the Employee to Certify or make corrections, then Certify.
10. For auditing purposes, Timekeepers are required to maintain all documentation related to each pay period in a separate folder and promptly complete the Time Audit Checklist for each pay period. This includes a copy of the ZP 241 report for the pay period once Time Statements have been properly certified and approved. For each pay period, the ZP 241 must show that all Time Statements have been Certified and Approved.

V. VIOLATIONS:

The DOA requires strict compliance with the eCertification process set forth herein. Employees, Timekeepers, and Approvers who violate this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

VI. EXCEPTIONS:

Requests for exceptions to the requirements of this policy shall be documented, justified and submitted through the Office of Human Resources for consideration by the Appointing Authority.

VII. QUESTIONS:

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Office of Human Resources.