Among other options, the Employee Self Service (ESS) Portal allows staff members to initiate their own leave requests. Depending on the type of request, the submission is routed to the appropriate authority, who review and approve or reject the request. In some instances, the submission may go through two different individuals, an endorser who recommends the request and an approver who has the final authority to agree to the recommendation of the endorser. In most instances, the request will only go to one approver.
For those rare instances in which the staff member is unable to submit the request personally (due to extended sick leave, unavailability of computer, etc.), a role was created for the possibility of having administrative staff enter the staff member’s submissions “on behalf of the staff member”. It must be noted, however, that this option is considered to be an exception and staff are expected to manage their own time requests through the ESS Portal.
UN Staff members are responsible for ensuring that their absence and attendance records are accurate and updated in accordance with Staff Rules 10.1 and 10.2.
Sometimes transactions are more complicated than a simple request for time off. To handle the full range of time transactions, the following Umoja roles have been created.
Staff:
All staff are given access to the Portal (ESS) and are required to initiate requests related to entitlements and benefits, such as:
- Submit leave requests: The system assumes that the staff member is present unless the staff member makes a request for leave that is approved. Once approved, this leave is deducted from their quota.
- Enter certain attendance types: It is not necessary for staff members to log their attendance every day, however there are certain attendances that do not follow a regular work schedule that must be recorded. Among them are time worked as Overtime or CTO, and time worked under a WAE contract or compressed work schedules that are used to enable flexible working arrangements. If a staff member avails of telecommuting, as part of a Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) agreement, then the staff member must record those days as telecommuting days on a weekly basis in ESS.
At the end of every month, and at the end of the year, all staff members receive a summary of all the leave taken during that period. The staff member is responsible for certifying its accuracy. It is also the staff member’s responsibility to take appropriate action to add or correct any missing or inaccurate entries at the time of certification.
Time Manager
The Time Manager is usually the direct supervisor of the staff member and is empowered to:
- Approve absence/attendance requests for staff members for the following type of leave and time related processes:
- Annual Leave, including advanced leave
- Home Leave
- Family Leave
- CTO and OT after consultation with their administrative office.
- Endorse staff member’s request for:
- Special Leave and R&R.
- time entries for When Actually Employed (WAE) staff members.
- View
- absence balances of staff members to determine if the staff member can take the leave.
- team calendars to determine whether the leave request can be approved based on the leave requests already approved for other staff members in the office.
- Delegate the time approval role to a secondary time manager. This delegation can be made for a specific period of time (for example, for the duration the manager is on leave). or it can be made permanently if the manager decides to delegate this function to another staff member in the office. The delegation to the secondary time manager through ESS can only be made for a staff member within the same organizational unit. If it is necessary to delegate the time manager role to a staff member in a different organizational unit, an HR Partner must make this change.
Secondary Time Manager
A secondary time manager is a role delegated by the Time Manager to an Umoja user, empowering them to perform the same functions as the Time Manager for staff members in the same organizational unit. The Time Manager may delegate this authority to cover a period of their own absence.
The secondary Time Manager must belong to the same organizational unit as the Time Manager. This delegation is granted through ESS.
Exception Time Manager
The exception Time Manager is a role assigned by the HR Partner. This individual acts as the Time Manager for staff members who are on assignment to another organizational unit.
The exception Time Manager role should only be used when the staff member belongs to a different org unit from the Time Manager.
HR Partner
The HR Partner acts as first, or second level approver of some time transactions initiated in ESS by the staff member.
First Level Approver for:
- Jury Duty
- Certified Sick Leave 20 days or less
- Maternity Leave
Second Level Approver for:
- When actually Employed (WAE) attendance
- Daily Conference Language – Additional Days
- Rest and Recuperation
- Special Leave with Full Pay
- Special Leave without Pay
In addition, the HR Partner:
- Executes all time-related personnel actions for staff members in ECC when the request requires the raising of PAs in addition to having the leave record approved (e.g., Special Leave Without Pay).
- Adjusts and sets leave quotas and records in ECC.
- Can assign the role of Exception Time Manager to other staff members across organizational units at the request of the Time Manager.
- Performs time monitoring tasks and runs time reports.
Time Administrator:
Staff members with this role are able to:
- Create ESS requests on behalf of staff members who have no access to Umoja through the Time Administrator Services in the Umoja Portal.
- Perform monitoring tasks and ensure that the staff member’s entries are accurate.
- View absence balances of staff members in ESS.
- View Team Calendar.
Time Senior Administrator:
Staff members with this role can perform the same duties as the Time Administrator and in addition they are able to:
- Enter no MSA days.
- View, modify and create leave entries in ECC.
- Change work schedules.
- Perform time monitoring tasks and run time reports.
Many of these functions overlap with the access that the HR Partner has for time management. Where there is overlap, the assumption is that those are the primary functions of the Time Senior Administrator, and the HR Partner is a backup in the event that the Time Senior Administrator is not available.
The only areas related to time that are the exclusive responsibility of HR Partners are the execution of time PAs, the quota set up, the approval of the leave types indicated above, the reinstatement of entitlement travel days, and the assignment of the role of exceptional time manager.
Time Administrators and Time Senior Administrators are the primary focal points for staff members who have time related queries.
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