IMPORTANT: Cardinal HCM – Announcing New/Updated Fields for Veteran’s Service Credit and Service Dates

Since the revision to DHRM’s Policy 4.10 – Annual Leave, which incorporated an annual leave service credit for employees with veteran service starting on January 10, 2023, the following gaps in Cardinal were identified:

• The employee’s VSDP sick and personal leave allotments being impacted. VSDP Leave eligibility should not change due to the veteran’s service credit.
• The Cardinal Years of Service Report (RHR475), used to determine service award eligibility, was impacted. veteran’s service credit does not affect service award eligibility determination.

The Cardinal PPS HR and DHRM teams worked together to identify impacted areas and implement a solution, which is now live. This includes adding three new fields to the Job Data - Employment Data page and revising three existing fields. The implementation of these new fields will require agencies to make changes to the Job Data - Employment Data page for those employees receiving a veteran service credit. A communication summarizing these impacts was sent by DHRM to HR Directors on Friday, May 5, 2023.

We encourage you to take time to thoroughly read the following information to better understand the extensive changes in associated with this initiative. We will be holding a Veteran’s Service Credit and Service Dates Overview Forum on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. for Cardinal HR and Absence Management (AM) Administrators regarding these changes.

Given the complexity of this topic, we recommend that you to attend the forum or listen to the recording before making corrections and/or updates to your agency’s impacted data.

This communication breaks down to the following sections:

• Updates/Additions to fields in Cardinal
• Next Steps for HR & AM Administrators
  • Assessment of data
  • Options for corrections
• Support Materials

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Updates/additions to fields in Cardinal to better support Service Dates

The following table outlines the changes that have been made in Cardinal to support this process: Note: The Employment Data page displayed here highlights the new and revised fields. The new fields are outlined in red and revised fields are outlined in blue.

Field Name	Description
Veteran’s Service Credit Months:  (New Field)	Veteran Service Credit Months only will be maintained in this field. Enter months of credit being applied to annual leave accrual rate credit when employee has applicable military service. Note: When Veteran's Service Credit Months is adjusted with greater than (>) 0 for first time AND the Annual Leave Eligibility Date is updated, those updates will automatically populate in AM. After Absence Calc runs, annual leave entitlements will update back to the beginning of the current leave year (January 10) or hire date, if later.   When left blank, this field defaults to “0”.
Previous State Service Months: (Revised online label only)	Enter months of prior state salaried service when the employee has one or more breaks in service. This field is provided to VRS and VSDP third-party administrator for income replacement determination purposes. Note: ONLY the employee’s prior service months related to state, salaried prior service should be in the Previous State Service Months field. Refer to the DHRM Hiring Policy 2.10 – Service Credit Application (Excel document) or contact DHRM at iHelp@dhrm.virginia.gov for assistance with determining prior service eligibility. When left blank, this field defaults to “0”.
Total Service Credit Months (New Field)	This field auto-populates the total of Prior State Service Months and/or Veteran’s Service Credit Months entered. Agency HR Administrators MUST adjust the Annual Leave Eligibility Date accordingly so that the employee will receive correct annual leave accruals. When left blank, this field defaults to “0”.
Annual Leave Eligibility Date (Revised online label only)	MUST BE updated by HR Administrators for salaried employees for agencies that use Cardinal's Absence Management. New label to clearly indicate that the date is only related to Annual Leave Eligibility Date. Should incorporate the Total Service Credit Months, when applicable. Should be the state hire date, which would match the Continuous State Service Date if employee has none of the following: Breaks in service Certain periods of leave without pay Veterans Service Credit Months Note: When Veteran's Service Credit Months is adjusted with greater than (>) 0 for first time AND the Annual Leave Eligibility Date is updated, those updates will automatically populate in AM. After Absence Calc runs, annual leave entitlements will update back to the beginning of the current leave year (January 10) or hire date, if later.   IMPORTANT: HR Administrators MUST ensure accuracy of this field. Refer to DHRM Policy 4.10 for additional information or contact DHRM at iHelp@dhrm.virginia.gov for assistance.
VSDP Sick/PER Leave Efft Date (New Field)	The VSDP Sick/PER Leave Efft Date field is auto-populated when the record is saved using the data in the Veteran’s Service Credit Months field and the Annual Leave Eligibility Date. Note: This date populates to Time and Labor (TA) for determination of the amount of VSDP sick and personal leave the employee should receive upon hire, or at the beginning of a new leave year.
VSDP Enroll Date (Revised online label only)	This field MUST BE updated by HR Administrators when employees are hired or rehired. New label to clearly indicate that the date is only related to VSDP Enroll Date. All employees enrolled in the VSDP program must have a VSDP Enrollment Date populated. This may be either: The date that the employee was hired into a state salaried job for the first time, or The date that the employee opted into the VSDP program (opted out of the Traditional Sick Leave Program). Provided to VRS and VSDP third-party administrator for income replacement determination purposes. May or may not be impacted when the employee has a break in service (see VRS employer manual for more information). IMPORTANT: HR Administrators MUST ensure the accuracy of this field. Refer to the VRS Employer Manual, Virginia Sickness and Disability Program Benefits at https://employers.varetire.org/publications/ for more detailed information.

The Employment Data page displayed here highlights the new and revised fields. The new fields are outlined in red and revised fields are outlined in blue.

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Next Steps for HR and AM Administrators

Determine if your agency has applied the Veteran’s Service Credit Months to the Previous State Service Months field and revised the Annual Leave Eligibility Date.

A) If No updates/adjustments made for Veteran’s Service Credit in Cardinal:

• HR Admins at agencies who have not completed adjustments in Cardinal should follow the HR351_Managing Service Dates and Breaks in Service job aid. Cardinal recommends you complete this prior to June 10 due to upcoming Legislative Salary Increase transactions.
• AM Admins, if you have not manually adjusted any absence balances, no changes are needed. When your HR Administrator makes their updates, the system will automatically update leave entitlements in Absence Management.

B) If Yes, we applied changes for Veteran’s Service Credit in Cardinal:

• HR Admins at agencies who have applied the Veteran’s Service Credit Months to the Previous State Service Months field and revised the Annual Leave Eligibility Date must make updates to those employee’s job data records. The steps you will take are based on the option you select below, please see what best fits your agency situation.
• TA Admins must:
  • Collaborate with your HR Admins to identify impacted employees
  • Confirm absence balances have recalculated as expected after Job Data has been updated and Absence Calc has run
  • If you have created a manual balance adjustment to correct an employee’s absence balances due to veterans service credits, you Must remove the manual balance adjustment in order for VSDP Sick and Personal Leave entitlements to reflect accurately
  • Coordinate with HR Admins to communicate changes to your employees.
  • Note: Employees will be able to see their revised absence balances in Employee Self-Service on their next pay day.

Options for Corrections at agencies who have made changes

Agencies making corrections have two options to make the required updates:

Option 1: Manually update the Previous State Service Months and Veteran’s Service Credit Months fields by following these steps:

1. Refer to HR documentation used to determine any leave eligibility date adjustments for your eligible veterans highlighting the number of months of Veteran’s Service Credit.
2. Add a new job data row and enter same effective date as the top, or current row, then enter effective sequence 1.
3. Use Action = Data Change, Action Reason = Leave Eligibility Date.
4. Click on Employment Data page link.
5. Enter only the Veteran’s Service Credit Months to that new field.
6. If Veteran’s Service Credit Months were added to the Previous State Service Months field, then subtract those months from that field.
   1. Note: ONLY the employee’s prior service months related to state, salaried prior service should be in the Previous State Service Months field.
7. Do not change the Annual Leave Eligibility Date, which should consist of BOTH Veteran’s Service Credit and prior state service credit (if applicable).
8. Click Save.
9. Verify that the VSDP Sick/PER Leave Efft Date and Total Service Credit Months field populated accurately.
10. This change will update the VSDP Sick/PER Leave Efft Date when Absence Calc runs, which will trigger a recalculation of the VSDP balances in accordance with the employee’s applicable years of service under the VRS VSDP Policy.
11. Click on Job Data page link to navigate back to the Work Location tab.
12. Click on the Notepad icon.
13. Click Add a New Note button.
14. Add a Subject and Note Text to document why the Person Employment Dates were updated.
15. Click Save
16. Notify your AM Administrator of your changes so that they can confirm AM entitlements adjustments the following day.

Option 2: Fifty or more employee records to correct? The Cardinal PPS HR Team or the DHRM iHelp team will assist with your corrections. Submit a ticket to vccc@vita.virginia.gov, and include “Cardinal HR Veteran’s Service Credit Corrections” in the subject line.

• Attach a spreadsheet of impacted employees that includes:
  • Employee ID
  • Effective Date
  • Veteran’s Service Credit Months
  • Prior State Service Months

Moving Forward

When entering any new instances of Veteran’s Service Credit, follow the HR351_Managing Service Dates and Breaks in Service job aid.

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Support Materials

To support the new and updated fields on the Job Data – Employment Data page, Cardinal has revised several job aids to provide the necessary guidance and information for managing these fields.

Material Title	Revisions
HR351_Managing Service Dates and Breaks in Service job aid	Formerly HR351_Impact of Breaks in Service. Rewritten to provide additional information regarding the many service date fields on the Cardinal Job Data – Employment Data page.
HR351_Managing Service Dates Calculator excel document	Formerly HR351_Impact in Breaks in Service Calculator. Navigate to Cardinal Website > Learning > Job Aids  to download HR351_Managing Service Dates Calculator if you cannot open directly.
HR351_Completing a Rehire job aid	Revised to include new fields.
HR351_Managing an Inter-Agency Transfer job aid	Revised to include new fields.
HR351_Managing the Intra-Agency Transfer Process job aid	Revised to include new fields.
HR351_Completing a New Hire job aid	Revised to include new fields.
Years of Service Report (RHR475)	Revised to include new fields and an excellent resource for analyzing employment service dates.
TA374_Results by Calendar Group/Calendar job aid	No revisions. This job aid walks AM Admins through how to use Results by Calendar Group and Results by Calendar pages to view absence balances.

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Questions?

• Question regarding determining prior service and/or the Veteran’s service into Previous Months of Service? Submit an email to iHelp@dhrm.virginia.gov.
• Functional or Technical questions in Cardinal? Submit a help desk ticket to vccc@vita.virginia.gov and include “Cardinal” in the subject line. In the email provide detailed information about your issue. Include your name, email address, and a phone number where you can be reached.

 

Regards,

The Cardinal Team