**[How to Avoid T&A Errors]{.underline}**

**(Timekeeper Checklist-Revised 10/18/07)**

**A) Miscellaneous, but Very Important Leave Error Pitfalls**

41340. Be aware of **annual leave accrual rate changes** at the **3**
       and **15** year service milestones. The accruals change the next
       full pay period following the pay period in which the milestone
       date occurs, (only exception to this is if the milestone date is
       the first Sunday of the pay period.) These changes should be done
       automatically with STAR Web. If not, contact your location
       administrative office or the Pay and Leave Section, HRD. The
       **leave** **error report** (which you can print out each pay
       period) will clue you in to the change by checking the SCD
       (Service Computation Date) and how much the NFC database is
       accruing for annual leave. Check the error reports periodically
       and do leave audits as appropriate.

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1.  **Corrected T&A's**. Do corrected T&A's when there is a difference
    in pay, e.g., when time was charged to non-pay LWOP instead of paid
    annual leave, etc. If there is only a discrepancy in leave balances,
    you can do a leave audit, correct your records, and send in the
    audit to be TINQ'd, or you can do a corrected T&A if you submit it
    by Thursday of the week you transmitted the original T&A. If you
    choose to do a corrected T&A, be sure to update current T&A by
    correcting balances in employee's leave account.

    When an accounting code needs to be changed, contact your location
    Administrative Office (LAO) or Accounting Technician to see if they
    can make the correction or if a corrected T&A needs to be done. If a
    corrected T&A is done, make sure the accounting code is corrected
    before transmitting next T&A.

2.  Double check **Leave Transfer** **entries** to make sure that they
    are added or subtracted correctly.

3.  Please **submit SF-52\'s (Personnel Actions) in a timely manner**
    for changes in tours of duty, extended LWOP, resignations, etc.) Do
    not change the tour of duty on your T&A until the SF-52 has been
    processed.

4.  For **Wage Grade** employees, every transaction code (except LWOP,
    AWOL and Suspension) must have a suffix code.

    **B) Enter on Duty (EOD) Pitfalls**

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7176. Put the **Begin** Day on the **T&A Header** for new employees.
      (1- 14) Examples: If the EOD is the first day of the pay period
      use **1**, if it is the Monday of the second week, use **8**. In
      addition, be sure and check the **Accrue Leave** box if employee
      is to accrue leave for the pay period.

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1.  When determining **leave accrual for the first pay period**:
    Determine if the new employee is in employed status (not necessarily
    working) for their entire tour of duty. If they are employed for
    their entire tour of duty, they accrue leave for that pay period. If
    they were not in pay status for the entire pay period (e.g., 80
    hours of LWOP or AWOP, etc.) they would not accrue leave. If they
    were not in employed status for their entire tour of duty, they will
    not accrue leave for that pay period. Examples are as follows:

> A full-time or part-time employee's EOD is the beginning of a pay
> period, but employee does not begin work until the second week. Leave
> would **not** be accrued. LWOP would be accrued for the hours not
> worked the first week of the pay period.
>
> A full-time or part-time employee's EOD is the Monday of the second
> week, no leave would be accrued.
>
> A full-time or part-time employee's EOD is after their tour of duty
> begins in that pay period. The employee would not accrue leave. This
> would even be the case if they worked the full number of hours in
> their tour of duty (like working on a non tour of duty day, or working
> extra hours for part-timers to make up the hours).

**3.** Code all employees "**8"** for the Alternate Work Schedule (AWS),
on the **T&A Header**, so NFC will recognize credit leave earned and
used. (If not coded "**8"**, **the T&A will not verify. (You will get an
error if you try to earn or use credit leave.)**

**4 Use the correct social security number** for the employees. SSN is
entered in the

**Employee Detail** section.

**5. Use correct accounting code**. "Store accounting on first line"
(code 1) on the

T**&A Header** for 2 consecutive pay periods before switching to "Use
stored

accounting (code 2). Also, you cannot store multiple accounting codes.
They

must be entered on each line, each pay period. Make sure you have
selected,

"accounting on each line" in the Accounting Usage Code Section.

**6.** Limited day (L/A) and intermittent appointments must have the
**Day Limitation**

block marked in the **Employee Detail** section. Timekeeper may need to
contact

HRD Personnel Assistant to find out if it is a limited day appointment.

**7**. **Prior Job Leave Balances** -- the **SF-1150** will be the only
document that Pay and

Leave will accept. Once received, the employee's balances will be
changed by

the appropriate personnel to reflect the official data from the SF-1150.
Prior

leave balances **should not** be entered into STAR until notification is
received

from HR.

**8.** Check **temporary appointments** to see if their "Not-to-Exceed
date" is less than

90 calendar days. If less than 90 days, the employee will only earn sick
leave, not

annual leave. If the less than 90 day appointment is extended to more
than 90

days, without a break in service, the employee will accrue annual leave

retroactively from the beginning of the original appointment. Any
temporary

appointment over 90 days accrues leave without restriction.

**9. Intermittent** employees do not accrue leave.

**C)** **Final T&A Pitfalls**

> **1**. Make sure a **termination SF-52, Notification of Personnel
> Action,** has been submitted to Headquarters (HRD) in time to be sent
> to NFC before the action is to take place.

2.  Put the **End Day** on the **T&A Header** for separating employees.
    (1-14). Examples: If an employee resigns on Friday of the first
    week, put **6**, if the Friday of the second week, use **13**. Also,
    check the **Accrue Leave box** on the T&A Header if the employee is
    to accrue leave for that pay period.

3.  An **AD-581 (Lump Sum Payment Form**) needs to be done on all
    separating employees. If there is a leave error, a leave audit needs
    to be done, too. (If an AD-581 is not processed, the person cannot
    be taken off the active employee roster.)

    **D) Compensatory Time Pitfall**s

    **1.** Correctly code **Compensatory time** (Regular Compensatory
    time - Code 32 to

    earn, Code 64 to use). Do not code it as religious if it is not
    religious. (Religious

    comp -- to earn 77, 32, to use 60). You cannot be advanced regular
    comp time.

    You can be advanced religious comp time and then repay it. Repayment
    should

    be made within 3 pay periods.

    **2.** Make sure employees use compensatory time within 26 pay
    periods from

    which it is earned. NFC drops the comp-hours at that point and
    throws the

    employee into Comp-leave error. An AD-581 Lump Sum Form must be

    submitted to HRD so that the employee will receive payment at the
    overtime rate

    for the unused comp-time hours.

> **3.** **Compensatory Time Off for Travel (CTT)** -- Correctly code
> the time earned
>
> (78, 32) and used (78, 64). Leave earned must be used within 26 pay
> periods. If
>
> it is not used; it will be dropped by NFC.

**E) Part-time Employee Pitfalls**

264. Bring **part-time carryover hours** forward when a student goes
     from part-time to full-time and then back to part-time. These hours
     are tracked in the Employee Leave Account. (NFC carries the
     part-time carryover hours, if they are not re-entered in STAR Web,
     there will be errors in leave accruals.)

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1.  Make sure **part-time tour of duty matches hours worked**. (If tour
    of duty is 40 hours per pay period, then the T&A must show 40 hours
    \-- including hours worked and leave or LWOP.) When changing hours,
    an **SF-52 must be completed and sent to HRD, and the Tour of Duty
    hours changed in the Employee Detail** STAR Web screen. These must
    be for the same pay period, or there will be a discrepancy.

    **3**. Since **part-time employees earn leave based on number of
    hours worked**,

    LWOP/AWOL does not affect their leave accruals as it does for full
    time

    employees. (Unfortunately, there is a glitch in STAR Web so you will
    need to

    check part-time leave errors.) Time-keepers should periodically
    "0"out LWOP

    balances in the STAR leave account.

    **F) Advanced Leave Pitfalls**

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22356. Advancing more leave than is legal will cause an error. For
       annual leave, only the amount that will be earned in the
       remainder of a leave year can be advanced. For example, an
       employee in the 4 hour annual leave category in pay period 14 can
       only be advanced 48 hours, since 48 hours is all he/she can
       accrue through the remainder of the leave year. See **Advanced
       Annual Leave Chart** at the following web site:
       **<http://www.afm.ars.usda.gov/hrd/payleave/advanced.htm>**

       If you advance more than is available, it will be charged to
       LWOP, and this will

       cause a leave and pay error.

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1.  No more than 30 days (240 hours) of Sick Leave can be advanced at
    any time.

    **G) LWOP and AWOL Pitfalls**

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57364. **When doing leave audits** \-- Make sure when full-time
       employees reach 80 hours of leave without pay (LWOP) or
       increments of 80 (e.g., 160, 240, 320, etc.) in a pay period,
       they do not accrue annual or sick leave for that pay period.

       **H) Leave Audit Form Pitfalls**

When doing leave audits, Use **ARS 331 or log sheets** instead of T&A
printouts to prepare audits. Complete the **AD-717 (Leave Audit form)**,
showing totals through the most current pay period. Please add up the
columns Accrued and Used. Check totals by using the following formula:
**Brought forward balance + accrued - used (+ or -) donated leave =
balance**. Give Timekeeper name and phone \# and have form signed by
employee's supervisor. Leave audit forms must be complete with
appropriate signatures. **Changes in TINQ cannot be made unless the
audits are complete, with signatures.**

If using automated forms, complete through most current pay period and
delete the accruals for the remaining pay periods.

**If you have an error for a part-time employee, use the part-time leave
audit form**. Don't forget about the part-time unapplied carryover
hours.

**4**. If you have an employee who goes from part-time to full-time or
from part-time to full-time and then back to part-time, use the
part-time leave audit form, instead of 2 forms for part-time and
full-time.

References:

P&P 402.1 (Flexible Work Schedules),

P&P 402.3 (Premium Pay),

P&P 402.6 (Leave),

ARS T&A Errors and Tips,

Time and Attendance Instructions Manual (Title 1, Chapter 7, Section 1),
and

System for Time and Attendance Reporting (STAR) Manual.

Full-time and Part-time leave audit forms can be provided to you in
Excel by calling

Rita Keeling, 662-686-5201, or any member of the Pay and Leave Team.

(Revised 10/18/07)