SHARP-Shooter January 2003

SHARP Data Archive and Purge Project

The number of records in the SHARP database has rapidly increased since the original SHARP implementation. If no action is taken to reduce the number of records, system performance will eventually be negatively affected, additional costs will be incurred to store the increasing amounts of data, and conversion of data for the upgrade will take additional time. Because of these factors, the Department of Administration has begun a project to archive selected data and then purge this data from the SHARP database.

The data to be archived and purged during this project includes employee time and leave entry and summary records, paycheck data, employee payroll balances, and W-2 data. General Ledger detail records will also be purged but not archived. Records for calendar years 1993 through 1999 will be affected during this project. Once this project has been completed, an annual purge will be performed in each subsequent year to delete these records from the oldest calendar year remaining in the SHARP database. Internal Revenue Service and state records retention requirements mandate that at least three calendar years of tax data must be available.

The data purges are performed on weekends to minimize the amount of time that the SHARP system is unavailable to users. Prior to each data purge, a reminder will be placed on the SHARP message panel. The first data purge occurred on the weekend of December 6th - 8th with data for calendar years 1993, 1994, and 1995 being purged. Additional data purges are tentatively scheduled as follows:

1996 data – January 17th - 19th
1997 data – February 14th - 16th
1998 data – March 14th - 16th
1999 data – April 25th - 27th

The data being archived is for emergency use only and will not be readily available to agencies. If an agency feels it may later need access to information that is being purged, the agency may want to evaluate its record retention policies for employee timesheets, payroll registers, KPAYWAGE reports, and KTXPR55 W-2 Listing reports. These documents and reports can provide an agency with continued access to information that has been purged from the database. The KPAY318, Year-to-Date Balances report, could also be printed prior to data purge for a particular year to retain a record of an employee’s payroll balances for that year. Because this agency run report is by employee and year, this approach would likely need to be limited to those situations where the agency feels it will likely need this information to resolve an on-going problem related to a specific employee.

Processing Prior Period Shared Leave Adjustments - Errors and 2 Pay Period Retroactivity Limit

Have you ever entered a prior period shared leave adjustment only to discover that it erred during the off-cycle? The reason may have been because available sick and vacation hours were not recorded on the timesheet or the balance wasn’t reduced prior to entering the shared leave hours.
To help reduce the number of adjusted paychecks that error during an off-cycle calculation, please follow this procedure:

Submit a request to laurie.knowlton@da.state.ks.us to ask that the sick and vacation leave balances be temporarily reduced to below .25 (non-exempt employees) or below 4.0 (exempt employees).
Then request and process your shared leave adjustment.
Now that we have off-cycle leave accrual, employees will receive additional sick or vacation accrual based on the shared leave hours entered through the adjustment because shared leave counts toward leave accrual.
After the off-cycle check has processed, submit a request to
laurie.knowlton@da.state.ks.us to have the sick and vacation balances increased by the amount subtracted prior to the adjustment. Keep in mind the balance may be higher than the previous amount since the shared leave hours count toward leave accrual and may have increased the accrual amount during the off-cycle process.
Refer to Kansas Administrative Regulation 1-9-23 for more information: http://da.state.ks.us/ps/documents/regs/art-9.htm#1-9-23.
Please also note that “…Shared leave may be applied retroactively for a time not to exceed two pay periods. Written notification of each instance in which shared leave is applied retroactively shall be given to the director…”

W-2 Wage and Tax Statements Mailed

The Leave Accrual Schedule for 2003 can be found on the SHARP Customer Service web site: http://da.state.ks.us/sharp look for "Leave Accrual Schedule 2003" under the Documents section. Note: Dates are subject to change.

Recently Issued Informational Circulars

The Payroll Section of the Division of Accounts and Reports has recently issued several informational circulars that may affect your agency or your employees. These circulars are as follows:

03-P-030 2003 Deferred Compensation and VTSA contribution limits
03-P-032 2002 W-2 Wage and Tax Statements
03-P-033 2003 W-2 Production Reports Schedule

The informational circulars can be accessed on the Division of Accounts and Reports web site at http://da.state.ks.us/ar/infocirc.

Readiness Checklist Reminder

The first submission of the Agency Readiness Checklist is due by January 10, 2003. Agencies should return the completed form to Doug Quinn. The completed form can be emailed to SHARPCM@da.state.ks.us, faxed to (785) 296-1168, or mailed to DISC, Attention: Doug Quinn, Landon State Office Building, Room 751-S, Topeka, KS 66612.

A copy of the checklist can be found at http://.da.state.ks.us/sharp/documents/UpgradeMeetingNov7.20.htm

Notice:

If your computer is set up with the State Outlook e-mail, you can select SHARP Change Management from the Global Address Book and send any questions about the upgrade there. Otherwise send e-mail to sharpcm@da.state.ks.us .

Attention:

Stay up-to-date on the latest information about the SHARP upgrade by signing up for the SHARP information list at: http://da.state.ks.us/sharp/infolist.htm .

Please inform all SHARP users about this important list!

SHARP Customer Service Web Page:

http://da.state.ks.us/sharp

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