Welcome back!

The President has signed a Continuing Resolution funding those areas of the government affected by the shutdown through February 15, 2019. Welcome back! Before you settle in and start tackling the backlog facing you, be sure and update your timecard by noon today!

Smithsonian Museums, the National Zoo and all Research Centers are available for staff entry immediately Smithsonian Federal staff may now access their Smithsonian email and SI devices. Please do so as evolving information will be available through those means as well as at alerts.si.edu.

Most Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will resume public operations on Tuesday, January 29th at their normal opening times. All Smithsonian staff should resume their normal working schedule on Monday, January 28th. Some teams will be working over the weekend to prepare for the public opening.

The first priority for all Federal employees, supervisors and timekeepers will be to adjust time cards by noon today, Monday, January 28th. This will enable furloughed federal employees to have their retroactive pay released on January 31. Actual date of payment may vary depending on your bank or financial institution. Trust employees do not need to take any action at this time.

• WebTA
  All time entries for PP26 and PP01 must be completed by noon today, Monday, January 28. Instructions for processing time cards can be found below or on Smithsonian Alerts https://alerts.si.edu/
• Retroactive Paycheck
  Your paycheck for PP26 and PP01 (January 2 through January 19) will be released Thursday, January 31. The actual date and payment may vary depending on your bank or financial institution. Overtime and premium pay will be processed in the
  subsequent pay period.
• Impacts to Leave
  Paid leave scheduled during the furlough period is cancelled; employees will not be charged leave.
• “Use or Lose” Annual Leave
  Properly scheduled annual leave will be restored. Eligible dates for restoration are January 2 – January 4.
• Within-Grade Step Increases
  Within-grade step increases will be effective as originally scheduled unless it was delayed for performance related issues.
• Commuter Benefits
  Transit subsidies and pre-tax parking will be provided as usual.
• FEHB and FEGLI Coverage
  Coverage is not impacted, the employee share of premiums will be withheld. OHR-BenefitsInquiry@si.edu
•  FEDVIP
  Coverage is not impacted, the employee share of premiums with be withheld.
  OHR-BenefitsInquiry@si.edu
• Unemployment Compensation
  Unemployment benefits received during the shutdown must be repaid.
• Retirement Impact
  No impact to your high-3 average salary or retirement computation date. Employee
• Assistance Program (EAP)
  Counseling Services are available, contact 202-633-1051

Payroll Guidance

The following guidance is provided to ensure the proper coding and processing of time and attendance records for retroactive pay for furloughed and excepted Federal employees for pay period 26 and pay period 01. Instructions for coding, validating, and certifying pay period 02 will be provided seperately during the normal PP02 processing cycle.

It is crucial that all time cards be completed by noon on Monday, January 28th. This will
enable furloughed Federal employees to have their retroactive pay released on January 31.

Actual date of payment may vary depending on your bank or financial institution.
NOTE: Time cards should be corrected, validated and certified in sequential order, (i.e. pay period 26, then pay period 1).

Instructions for Pay Period 26
Furlough dates from January 2 through January 5

• All furloughed and excepted Federal employees must correct their PP26 time cards by deleting all furlough hours (transaction code 74) and updating “Regular Base Pay” hours (transaction code 01), with the days and hours the employee worked or would have normally worked.
• Excepted employees who worked overtime, earned premium pay, etc. during the pay period can record those hours now if known, or as a correction, at a later date when the information becomes available. Payment for overtime work will be paid in the subsequent pay period.
• Timekeepers in some units will make corrections on behalf of employees. In this situation, contact your unit Timekeeper for further instructions.

See screen shots below are for Pay Period 26 only:

From the main WebTA menu, select the “Correction” tab

From the Employee Corrections menu, Select pay period “26 -2018” and then the “Correction” tab.

After selecting the “Correction” tab, the PP26 time card will display and be available for
employees and/or timekeepers to correct.

• Delete all Furlough hours and update the Regular Base Pay hours with the days and hours the employee worked or would have worked.
• Save and Validate the time card
• Validated time cards will be Certified by Supervisors or Timekeepers

Instructions for PP01

Furloughed Employees

• Record all regularly scheduled hours as work hours using transaction code 01 (Regular Base Pay).
• Previously approved paid leave (i.e., annual, sick, compensatory time, etc.) should be not be coded, as employees were not be charged leave during the furlough.
• Previously approved Leave Without Pay (LWOP) will remain LWOP.
• Save and Validate time card
• Validated time cards will be Certified by Supervisors or Timekeepers

Excepted Employees

• Record all hours worked using transaction code 01 (Regular Base Pay).
• Employees who worked overtime, earned premium pay, etc. during the pay period can record those hours now if known, or as a correction, at a later date when the information becomes available. Payment for overtime work will be paid in the subsequent pay period.
• All hours in which an employee was on approved absence from duty and considered “furloughed” for that absence, should be coded as hours worked using transaction code 01 (Regular Base Pay).
• Save and Validate time card
• Validated time cards will be Certified by Supervisors or Timekeepers

For questions specific to WebTA or time and attendance procedures contact: Payroll Help Desk, 202.633.7260 or OCPayrollHelpDesk@si.edu

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