Background

RUN_ID is a PeopleSoft-delivered field with a length of 10 characters used to define the Pay Run ID for each Pay Tape Period / Paygroup combination in the Labor Cost Distribution (LCD) module.  It is populated in the delivered PAY_RUN_TBL record under the path: Set Up HCM >   Product Related > Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing Controls > Pay Run Table. Each Pay Run ID is subsequently attached to a matching Pay Calendar value.

Issue

The RUN_ID field has no format edits, so campuses are allowed to enter whatever format they want into this field.  Most campuses use the format ‘yyyymm’ (e.g., ‘202301’ for January 2023), followed by the three-character Paygroup value.  Paygroup values include ‘ACD’ (Academic), ‘MST’ (master), ‘POS’ (Positive), STU (Student), and at some campuses, ‘HRL (Hourly – a combination of POS and STU). An example of typical RUN_ID values for January 2023 might look like this: ‘202301ACD’, ‘202301MST’, ‘202301POS’, and ‘202301STU’, although some campuses may insert a dash or underscore character to separate the values. During our initial CHRS testing, the campus data we were using had different formats for their RUN_ID values. However, during recent CHRS testing, we found that there were a few campuses that used the exact same values for their RUN_ID values. This caused major issues with LCD processing.

Analysis

Changing the format of the RUN_ID field to include a campus identifying value will be required in CHRS to ensure there are no LCD processing issues for campuses that use similar RUN_ID formats. This change will have no effect on how LCD processing or reporting function.  The alternative solution to this issue would be for CMS to go in and make modifications to include campus-identifying criteria to all code that includes the RUN_ID value. Since the RUN_ID value is used through LCD processing, this would be a significant undertaking at this point in the CHRS project. Asking campuses to change their RUN_ID format to include campus-identifying info unique to each campus is a much better approach to solving this issue. Campuses will not have to go back to change old data. They just need to pick a point in time and switch to the new format when populating this field moving forward for their LCD processing in CHRS. Campuses will not be required to make this change in their current production instances – this change is only required when processing LCD in CHRS. However, it should be done prior to the conversion of that campuses data into CHRS.

Recommendations

Because campuses generally populate their RUN_ID values for the entire year (either in December prior to the beginning of the calendar year or in June prior to the beginning of the fiscal year), they should follow this Position Paper format at a point in time in their 9.0 instance before they go-live on CHRS. This will ensure the data will get migrated into CHRS via Conversion. 

Note:  Campuses do NOT need to go back and change the RUN_ID values for previous LCD months they have already completed processing.

All campuses will need to switch to the recommended format of ‘CCyyyymmPP’ when entering all future RUN_ID values. The format is defined as a two-character campus identifier (CC), four-digit year (yyyy), two-digit month (mm), and two-character Paygroup (PP), which would be the first two characters of the Paygroup value (‘AC’ for Academic, ‘MS’ for Master, ‘PO’ for Positive, ‘ST’ for student, and ‘HR’ for Hourly). An example of the new format for Fullerton January 2023 RUN_ID values would be: ‘FL202301AC’, ‘FL202301MS’, ‘FL202301PO’, and ‘FL202301ST’ (See examples for all campuses in the Appendix at the end of this paper).

This process requires two steps for the campuses to follow: 

1. Create the new Run ID values using the recommended format by going to Set Up HCM >   Product Related > Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing Controls > Pay Run Table
2. Go to the Pay Calendar page (Set Up HCM >  Product Related > Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing Controls > Pay Calendar Table) to attach each new RUN_ID value to the matching Pay Calendar value.

Considerations

Making this change may also allow for CSU-wide reporting to be done utilizing the RUN_ID field.

Cross-Functional Impacts (Positive / Negative)

None.

CHANGE IMPACT

To be filled out by BSA (from Change Impact Tracking log):

The following impact areas should be addressed by the Position Paper author(s) or a relevant stakeholder/approver.  All items should have a response.

1. Areas of potential change resistance to proposed HR process / policy changes?

   N/A

2. Potential resource needs in order to plan, engage, prepare, and/or deploy the change?

   None. 

3. Associated costs relative to the scope of the change to requirements requested?

   None.

4. Training needs or if a straightforward change?

   This is a straightforward change.

5. Implication on any other related process / functions?

   None.

6. Union impact? Any additional comments (from Labor rep)?

   None.

REVISION CONTROL

Revision History

Review/Approval History

End of Article