Human Resources

What is an ePAF? 

ePAF is an Electronic Personnel Action Form that allows users to process job changes for their employees online, define, route and track actions as they move through the approval process, and it provides an electronic audit trail. 

Advantages of using ePAF: 

• Departments are empowered to make changes for their employees 

• Speed and efficiency  
• Fewer opportunities for data entry errors or missed deadlines 
• Ability to track a transaction through the approval queue 
• Less paper waste and misplaced forms 

Types of ePAFs: 

• Hires, Transfers, Rehires 
• Changes to the FOAPAL, Hourly Rate, Job Title, and Supervisor 
• Secondary Jobs, Salary Supplements, Student Stipends 

Staff ePAFs: 

• Staff Salaried New Employee – for the standard staff new hire that has never been hired with the university before. Salaried employees are exempt from overtime.  
• Staff Salaried Transfer/Rehire New Position – for transferring an existing employee into a different position or to rehire a former employee. Salaried employees are exempt from overtime. 
• Staff Hourly New Employee – for the standard staff new hire that has never been hired with the university before. Hourly employees are eligible for overtime. 
• Staff Hourly Transfer/Rehire New Position – for transferring an existing employee into a different position or to rehire a former employee. Hourly employees are eligible for overtime. 

Faculty ePAFs: 

• Faculty New Employee (12 month) – for a 12-month faculty member that has never been hired with the university before NOT on deferred pay 
• Faculty/Transfer/Rehire New Position (12 month) – for transferring an existing employee into a different position or to rehire a former employee not on deferred pay 
• Faculty New Employee (Deferred Pay) – for new faculty members working the entire academic year that will be placed into deferred pay 
• Faculty Rehire Same Position (Deferred Pay) – for rehiring a faculty member into the same position for the entire academic year and will be placed into deferred pay 
• Faculty Rehire New Position (Deferred Pay) – for rehiring a faculty member into a new position for the entire academic year and will be placed into deferred pay 
• Faculty Temporary New Employee (No Deferred Pay) – for hiring a new faculty member into a temporary position for one semester 

*What is Deferred Pay?  

Faculty members are paid their contract over the entire year so that they do not miss a monthly payment. The system calculates what the monthly payment will be and adjusts automatically. MSU places all new Faculty hired after 2015 who are teaching the entire academic year in deferred pay with an August contract start unless they have a 12-month contract (such as a Chair) and are working the entire year. Faculty members that teach in the summer will receive summer pay in addition to their deferred pay. 

Salary Supplements: 

• Salary Supplement (New Position) – This will be used for every employee’s initial salary supplement with ePAF (regardless of if they have had a salary supplement in the past) 
• Salary Supplement (Same Position) – After having a salary supplement entered via ePAF this may be used  

Student ePAFs:  

• Student New Hire Hourly – for hiring a new student employee earning work-study, student hourly/grant funds or an international student employee.  
• Student Rehire Hourly (Same Position) – for rehiring a student employee into the same position 
• Student Rehire Hourly (New Position) - for rehiring a current student employee into a new position (split assignments or adding a work-study or hourly position)
• Student Stipend New Hire – for hiring a new student employee into a service stipend position 
• Student Stipend Rehire (Same Position) – for rehiring a student employee into a service stipend position 

Hourly ePAFs: 

• Classified Hourly (New Employee) – for hiring a new temporary non-benefit eligible employee into a position that is for 9 months of service. 
• Classified Hourly (New Position) – for hiring a temporary non-benefit eligible employee into a different position that cannot be held for over 9 months in combination with any other Classified Hourly position 
• Classified Hourly (Rehire) – for hiring a former temporary employee that has held a Classified Hourly position before 
• Administrative Hourly (New Employee)– for hiring a new temporary non-benefit eligible employee into a temporary non-exempt position and cannot work more than 19 hours per week 
• Administrative Hourly (New Position) – for hiring a temporary non-benefit eligible employee into a different temporary non-exempt position and cannot work more than 19 hours per week 
• Administrative Hourly (Rehire) – for hiring a former temporary employee that has held an Administrative Hourly position before 

Miscellaneous ePAFs: 

• End Employee Job– to end an employee position to either hire into a different position or to separate employment. The standard separation process must be followed, and this will only stop payment on the position selected 
• FOAPAL Change – to modify the FOAPAL on an employee’s current position 
• Hourly Rate Change – to modify a non-exempt employee’s hourly rate 
• Title Change – to modify a current employee’s job title with no pay changes 
• Supervisor Change – to modify a current employee’s supervisor 
• Promotion - to promote an employee within their CURRENT position
• FTE Change -  to update the Full Time Equivalency of a current employee 

ePAF Roles: 

• Originator – Initiates the changes and determines routing queue 
• Approver – Reviews changes to ensure the data is accurate and complete 
• FYI – Receives a copy of the ePAF for information only – cannot act or make changes 
• Final Approver – HR Team member reviews  
• Applier – HR representative that applies changes to banner 

Who to select to approve the ePAF: 

Each ePAF has a set of mandatory Approval Levels or FYI notifications. These people have been selected for this responsibility based on job duties. If you do not see someone listed but you believe they should be, contact Human Resources. You also have the option to add additional levels of approval or FYI notifications. 

• Fiscal Manager: Select the appropriate Fiscal Manager for your department 

• Funding Oversight: University Budget – Cipriana Patterson, Grants – Charli Pringle-North, Foundation – Michael Schiffmacher  

• Payroll: Tessa Heyes 

• Employment Final Approver: Student and Temporary Hourly ePAFs – Ramona Morris, all others – Paula MacGeorge 

• Employment Applier: Student and Temporary Hourly ePAFs – Ramona Morris, all others – Sydney Glavin 

• Optional Approval Levels: Supervisor, Dean/Director/Chair, VP/Provost 

Payroll Calendars

Monthly Calendar for Administrators, Affiliate Faculty, State Classified, and Faculty 

Banner bases all transactions by pay period dates. If the Pay Period Start Date is different from the query date for the ePAF, the system will automatically prorate the employee’s pay. However, the date the employee begins working for the university should reflect their actual start date so that they are not overpaid. If the date entered for the end date is different from the Pay Period End Date, the employee will not be paid as they will not be picked up into payroll.  

* If the submission deadline has already passed, you will need to process for the following pay period and work with your HR representative to work out any back-pay situations. 

Semi-Monthly Calendar for Hourly and Student Employees 

What makes a FOAPAL?  

The FOAPAL tells the system where the money comes from to pay for the work completed. It is very important to make sure the correct information is submitted, or a labor redistribution will need to be completed later. This affects budgets, planning and reporting. Different numbers are used depending on the employee classification, type of work, location and sometimes semester. 

Fund (F) 

Funds are used to identify the source of the revenue. In other words, it is where the money comes from.? Revenue can come from many different sources. These revenue sources include:? 

- General Funds: Tuition & Fees or Program Fees, Budget, Indirect Cost Recoveries 

- Auxiliary Funds: Sales, Fee for Services 

- Restricted Funds: Grants, Foundations 

- Plant Funds: Reserves set aside for large Capital purchases 

- Agency Funds: Study Abroad, Student Clubs. 

New revenue generating activities such as, but not limited to, performances, events, fundraising, space rental, sale of goods or services, and sponsorships must follow the?Other Revenue Policy?for approval, prior to a Fund request. 

Organization (O) 

The Org Code is used to identify a department.? Every department is assigned an Organizational Code. For example, “MGT” could be used for Management Department (Orgs are monitored and approved by the Budget Office). 

Account (A) 

The Account codes classify, in detail, the results of transactions. Account codes allow you to have more flexibility for detail on your transactions. 51XX TO 59XX are Revenue (money coming in) accounts 65XX to 79XX are Expenditure (money going out) accounts. 

Program (P) 

Program codes identify the functional purpose of each revenue and expenditure transaction. These codes are used to help the University report our financial position.?The Program codes are a standardized system of comparable categories required by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). 

Activity &?Location (A/L) 

Activity/Location codes help identify a specific project/activity that needs to be tracked by a department. 

Fund Code Cheat Sheet 

Account Code Cheat Sheet 

Program Code Cheat Sheet 

Employee Classification Options 

Banner has several employee classifications for the various employee types. Some were used a long time ago and are no longer in use, but we are not able to delete them because of the history tied to them. Most employee classes will automatically default in depending on the ePAF selected, but there are some that you must enter the code. Contact your HR Representative if you are not sure which one to use. 

These codes can be seen when using the search tool but they are not in use: 

Basic ePAF Terminology 

Approval Category: Approval Categories are the actions you are performing. 

Approver: Those who can process EPAFs to Approve, Acknowledge, or Return EPAFs For Correction. 

Apply / Applied: This is the final step in the life cycle of an EPAF transaction where the data is entered into the Banner system. The new/changed data can then be viewed and verified in the appropriate Banner forms and tables. 

Originator: The person who initiates and submits the EPAF into the routing queue for review, approval & application to the Banner 

After pre-EPAF steps are complete, Originators: 

• Gather the required information and supporting documents
• Create EPAF transaction in the system
• Submits the EPAF to the routing queue
• Make any required changes or corrections throughout the review & approval process, until the EPAF “applies” to the Banner system. 

Routing Queue, Transaction Status and Queue Status

Routing Queue:

The sequence of Approvers and FYIers each EPAF must pass through before being applied to the Banner database. 

Required Action: The action the designated Approver is required to take. This is defined for each level or step in the Routing Queue. 

There are three action types available for selection in the Routing Queue: 

• Approval: The individual must take action on the EPAF 
• FYI: The individual is seeing the EPAF for information only and the EPAF does not have to wait for this person to do something before it can move on. 
• Apply: The individual must apply the EPAF to the database (Banner) after final approval. 

Transaction Status: 

The status of the EPAF itself - where it is in the approval process. 

These statuses are usually more relevant for an Originator. 

There are eight approval process Status indicators: 

• Approved: The EPAF has been approved by all the Approvers in the Routing Queue, but it has not yet been applied to the database. 

• Complete: The EPAF has been applied to the database and the requested changes have been made in Banner. 

• Disapproved: The EPAF has been disapproved by an Approver. The other Approvers in the Routing Queue (after them) no longer need to take action. The EPAF was stopped. 

• Pending: The EPAF is in the Routing Queue and requires action by the Approver(s). 

• Return for Correction: The Approver has returned the EPAF to the Originator for correction. The EPAF can then be corrected by the Originator and re-submitted. Once an EPAF is in Return for Correction status, it is as if it were never submitted. 

• Void: The Originator has Voided the EPAF. It is no longer a valid transaction. The Originator can Void the EPAF at any time during the approval process. 

• Waiting: The EPAF is in the process of being created and has not yet been submitted. An EPAF in Waiting status can be removed by the Originator by hitting the Delete button on the EPAF form. 

Queue Status: 

The status of the EPAF for each individual defined in the approval queue. 

The approval Queue Status categories are: 

• Acknowledge: An Approver designated with the action of FYI has seen the EPAF. 

• Applied: The EPAF has been applied to the database. The new data can be verified / viewed in the Banner forms and tables.

• Approved: The Approver has approved the transaction. 

• Disapproved: The Approver has disapproved the transaction. 

• FYI: Indicates that the EPAF transaction has been sent to you for your information only. No action is needed. The EPAF will continue through the Routing Queue. 

• In The Queue: The EPAF is on its way to you as an Approver but it needs action at a lower level. The status changes to Pending when the transaction reaches you. 

• More Information: If the Approver needs more information before they can take action, they can change the status to More Information to let others in the Routing Queue know that they are working on it. 

• Overridden: A Superuser has approved an EPAF, prior to receiving all approvals from those defined in the normal approval queue. In this case, the Queue Status would read “Overridden” for all Approvers remaining in the Routing Queue that the EPAF has not reached. 

• Pending: The Approver(s) needs to take action. 

• Removed from Queue: The EPAF has either been Voided by the Originator or Disapproved by an Approver. The EPAF is no longer a valid transaction. This is the Queue status the remaining Approvers would see. 

• Return For Correction: The EPAF has been returned to the Originator for correction. 

• Void: The transaction has been voided. This is only a valid status for Originators. 

How to Troubleshoot and Correct Errors 

Warnings-Informs the originator and HR of potential issues but will allow the EPAF to process. 

Errors-will not allow the EPAF to progress to the next approval level. Errors must be corrected.  

*Contact your HR Representative if you have any questions or are not able to solve the problem.