Copyright © 2003 Americas’ SAP Users’ Group

Maintaining Complex Rules in a Union EnvironmentMatthew Michaels, D2C Solutions

21 May, 2003

Topics Covered Union Environments Requirements Approaches Maintenance of Rules Time Evaluation Limitations Leveraging Time Evaluation Tips and Tricks Integration with Payroll Disciplined Approach Documentation Reporting Questions

UNION ENVIRONMENTS

HOSTILE or MUTUAL RESPECT

You May Have a Hostile Relationship If . . . Union questions the company at every step Large Number of Grievances Threatening Strikes Labor Slowdowns/Stoppages Bureaucracy No Concrete Rules Policy Set by Precedent Lots of Off-Cycle and Manual Checks

UNION ENVIRONMENTS

HOSTILE or MUTUAL RESPECT

You May Have a Relationship of Mutual Respect If . . . Clear Collective Bargaining Agreements Clear Grievance Process Union Polices Own Policies Environment of Mutual Res-

pect and Trust

Remember“A Good Union Man Never Works Overtime”

- James Spaulding

REQUIREMENTS

REQUIREMENT GATHERING

Are you inheriting a monster, or a dream – either way . . . Start at the Collective Bargaining Agreement Gather Letters of Agreement/Addendums Determine Past Precedent Interpretation Compliance with State and Federal Law

REQUIREMENTS

REQUIREMENT GATHERING

Everyone wants to believe their Union Requirements are the most complex and convoluted ever created.

Does misery love company?

Unless your Union bases payment on tide tables, moon cycles, and alignment of the planets – then there is a way to make it work in SAP . . . .

APPROACHES

TWO MAIN APPROACHES:1. Allow the entry of all Absence/Attendance Types

Required for payment.

2. Minimum Absence/Attendance Types to record what occurred during the course of a working day.

Both approaches can be utilized in a negative or positive time recording environment.

APPROACHES

APPROACH 1:Time Management has all of the absence and attendance types in order to pay an employee directly.

Pro: Simplified Time Evaluation

Cons: Employees and/or timekeepers enter how they want to be paid

If an employee complains either manual checks or new entries are made in

the system to keep the employee happy

Past precedent is set – the dog is chasing his tail

APPROACHES

APPROACH 2:Time Management has the absence/attendance types required to record what has occurred during the day.

Pro: Consistent application of pay policy

Consistent application of Collective Bargaining Agreement

Simplified Time Recording

Generate Everything

Cons: Time Evaluation can be EXTREMELY complex, and the cost of maintaining very

high

APPROACHES

DO NOT BE AFRAID Complex Schemas and Rules were not invented

to keep consultants in business. Although it doesn’t hurt!

Consider the careful use of groupings to segregate population V_001P_ALL, V_503_ALL

Table Access Modifiers are your friends

Push the majority of the processing to the tables

Process the extreme exceptions in time eval schemas and rules

APPROACHES

NO MATTER WHAT Try to limit your use of Custom Infotypes or ANY

core modifications.

SAP can and will generally support all of your requirements – if you didn’t find a way KEEP LOOKING!

REMEMBER in SAP there are several ways to approach the same opportunity (don’t forget about User Exits! – if your consultant told you there is only one way then get a new consultant!).

With enough time and money anything is possible

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

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MAINTENANCE OF RULES

GROUPINGS Group your employees by the

enterprise structure. Union contracts typically written

around the type of work performed – operations, maintenance, laboratory, etc. Make sure these elements are a part of your enterprise

Use the personnel sub-areas to define groupings based on functional area, or non-union and union work areas.

Table Modifiers are the final element in making the key to Time Evaluation Tables

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MAINTENANCE OF RULES

GROUPINGS – DAY MODIFIERS If your organization is very large and

the difference between bargaining units is great . . .

Isolate specific selection groups in T510S with the Day Modifier

In doing so when there are changes to a Union Agreement, the changes do not have to affect the whole enterprise.

This limits the effort required to test and move to production.

Quick turnarounds lead to better relationships

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MAINTENANCE OF RULES

GROUPINGS – DAY MODIFIERS Further break downs can be made in

sub-rules that can be used over and over.

The ability to use the Table Access Modifiers greatly enhances your ability to react to changes without much effort

Only the table entries change – the schema remains relatively STATIC

This makes T510S un-manageable! Not true the conditions for the generation of a wage type rarely change.

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

FORM BALANCES Using the Time Statement Form can be

a good way to show an employee the results of time evaluation in an easy to read format.

They can compare the difference between what was entered “WORK” versus what will be paid “Double-Time Overtime”

The use of variable balances can be helpful here.

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

NO CLOCK TIMES Try to get the most out of the variable

key, using VALEN and VAOFF to remove bytes that are uniform.

Always order the TIP entries so that all reductions and shift classifications occur prior to wage type generation.

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

MAINTENANCE OF RULES

7th DAY RULES Double time and other 7th day

premiums are easy to generate.

The main issue with standard delivered rules is there are conditions which can invalidate premium eligibility

GOTC can save the day . . .

TIME EVALUATION LIMITATIONS

What do you want it to do? Make Coffee? Overtime Equalization and Bidding Process ANY Policy that requires a manager’s

decision Clock times without the use of swipe cards

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

LIMITSUse these to warn you of policy violations

Use them to flag employees for discipline

Use them to limit time types and wage types created

Use them to check thresholds

Store surpluses for further processing

The more that is generated, the less room there is for argument and inconsistency between various employees.

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

TIME TYPES With Time Wage Types, Time Transfer

Types, and Time Types it is easy to see why there can be so much confusion around this area

Use time types to:

Track Balances over a specified period of time for specific employees

Set Flags for additional processing in the schema or a rule

Mark TIP entries for ease of processing in T555Y assignment

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

Time Type Assignment Use this table to identify

Absence/Attendance and Planned Working Time

Assign processing types for TIP entries

The TIP table is slowly filled with enough information to classify, accumulate, and generate wage types.

Again MODIF T determines the eligible table entries . . .

LEVERAGING TIME EVALUATION

GENERAL PHILOSPHY Everyone processes through the same

rules

Differences accounted for in groupings and table entries

Exceptions to these are handled by rules that process these for individual locations

START General and then move to most specific.

TIPS and TRICKS

ALWAYS CONSIDERGroupings – V_001P_ALL and V_503_ALL

Holiday Calendars – How many is too many? Do I really have to get the schedule “right”?

Work Schedule Rules – Employee Sub Group Groupings, Valuation Classes, and Daily Work Schedule Classes

Clock Times – Is every 5X8 Monday Through Friday schedule starting every 15 minutes necessary?

Time Statement Forms and sub-forms

Custom Error Messages – Get your point across!

Time Management Status, Working Week and other PA0007 considerations

Substitutions – It is OK to use these!!

Quotas

Specific Requirements

CAN SAP HANDLE?Working Up

Turnarounds/Shut Down Maintenance

Overtime Equalization

Shift Swaps

Substitutions

Minimum Hourly Guarantees

Rates

Double-time and other Premiums

Holiday Pay

Night Shift and Rotating Shift Allowances

Call-Outs

Multiple Contracts at one Site

INTEGRATION WITH PAYROLL

DON’T FORGET PAYROLL

If someone tells you that Time Evaluation Ran successfully, so it must be a payroll problem . .

Ask them to try another answer.Time is separate from Pay – but they are always linked. It isn’t successful until you EXIT Payroll.

If you cannot handle the requirement in Time think about the pro-rations available in Pay, and the calculation of rates as well.

DISCIPLINED APPROACH

EVALUATE THE SAME WAY EVERY TIMEOnce you start down this road – don’t turn back.

Always challenge individuals in the field to PROVE their case.

Show them how it has paid the last 100 times.

It hurts at first, but then everyone understands.

“Sometimes You Have to Choke the Dog to Give Him Medicine”

-From We’ve Never Been Licked 1943

DOCUMENTATION

DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENTWrite it down

Document your time types in SAP

Document your Rules and Schemas in SAP BE SPECIFIC!!!

KEEP UP WITH IT!!!! Everyone hates documentation except the person who takes over for you.

If your consultant does not want to document, then tell them to take a HIKE!!! Otherwise, they are creating a job for LIFE!!!

REPORTING

LET REPORTS HELPRPTBAL00 – Time Type and Time Wage Type Reporting

RPTERL00 – Time Evaluation Messages Display

RPTEDT00 – Time Statement Form

To monitor things like, attendance programs, totals across populations for negotiations or Union meetings, unique conditions flagged at your business, hours of overtime, etc. Use these reports to diagnose problems for correction.

QUESTIONS

PLEASE ASK

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Session Code: 2209