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Idaho Bulletin 250-7-3

October 10, 2006

SUBJECT:  FNM - Clarification to Changes to WebTCAS and Certification of Timesheets

TO:  All Employees, NRCS, Idaho

Purpose.  To clarify and correct information in Bulletin ID-250-7-2

Expiration Date.  September 30, 2007

Employees were recently notified of changes to the WebTCAS system in order to bring the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) into compliance with OMB and Department Regulations.

Effective Pay Period 22 (October 29), supervisors must certify each employee's timesheet prior to submission to the National Finance Center (NFC).  Below are some issues or questions about the supervisor certification requirement coming in PP22.   

  1. Who can be a backup to a supervisor?  Do backups have to be a supervisor themselves?  Backups to the supervisor would be the same process as selecting their acting while they are on travel/leave/sick etc.  No different.  Backups do not have to be designated as supervisors in empowHR.
  2. Can supervisors assign backups from another state/POI?  We're still researching this and will provide more info at a later time.
  3. Can WebTCAS  be changed to allow the supervisor to certify the timesheet before the timekeeper verifies it?  The timekeeper MUST verify the timesheet before the supervisor is allowed to certify.  The reason for this is that the timekeeper may need to make adjustments/corrections to the timesheet before it's ready to go.  If the supervisor is allowed to certify prior to timekeeper verification then any changes that the timekeeper makes would have to be recertified by the supervisor.  This process will not be changed.
  4. Is there a fall-back option in place in the case that a supervisor (or the backups) are all gone and timesheets cannot get certified?  If this happens then the fallback is to fax the timesheet to NFC and incur the cost they charge for that process. When the supervisor is finally able to certify the timesheet, it will get sent to NFC.  Supervisors should be aware of their schedules and able to plan accordingly.
  5. Can a timekeeper be a backup supervisor?  If the timekeeper NORMALLY acts for that supervisor when the supervisor is gone then yes they can.  Although, typically this is not the case.  Headquarters will be monitoring this to assure that supervisors are not assigning the timekeeper as backup to certify timesheets routinely.
  6. New report in WebTCAS displaying supervisors and their backups.  NHQ is putting a new report into WebTCAS so states can monitor to make sure that employees are correctly assigned to supervisors and that supervisors have two backups designated.
  7. Is the noon Tuesday deadline to have all timesheets ready for transmission (certified) going to be relaxed at all?  It will be relaxed to the deadline of Tuesday at 5pm Mountain time.  This is not so much of a WebTCAS deadline as a NFC deadline.  We're trying to get timesheets to NFC in a timely matter preventing calls that NFC has to make to the states when they don't get a timesheet for an employee.
  8. How do backup supervisors work and how are they added?  Supervisors add their backups in their Profile screen.  The timekeeper for the supervisor can also add the backups.  After backups are set then they will see a supervisor option section on the main menu in WebTCAS with a drop-down for supervisors.  It's basically the same process used for backup Timekeepers.  When the backup is needed to fill in for the supervisor then they will select that supervisor's name from the drop-down and go to the supervisor screen to certify timesheets.
  9. After we make the change to timesheets having to be certified before submission to NFC, what happens if one does not get certified?  Does the employee still get paid?  First thing to clarify with this question is that the states themselves will not be making the change requiring certification.  The ITC will change it globally in the database and states will not be able to undo it.  Now to the question.  Likely, yes, the employee will get paid.  NFC typically calls the state contact when they don't get a timesheet.  They will have to be told that they can't get it off electronically because it has not been certified.  The state will have to fax the timesheet to NFC and the employee will get paid.  The timesheet will still be sitting in WebTCAS and will have to be certified when the supervisor gets that done and then it will transmit to NFC, albeit, late.
If you have any questions, please contact Terry Sprague at 208-378-5690.


/s/                                           
RICHARD SIMS                                         
State Conservationist               

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