Steps to Add an EmployeeNote: If desired, utilize the Adjust Affordable Care Act Hours Data option (instead of following the instructions below) to quickly complete or edit the data on the ACA Hours screen for a group of employees, or copy the data entered for a prior measurement and stability period for a group of employees.
From within the Employee File, click the ACA Hours tab.
Each year's measurement and stability periods created from within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option that is applicable to the employee appears in the Measurement Periods List. For each current period, complete the following:
If the employee was hired within the current period being edited and the Track as ACA New Hire field was selected for the Hire/Rehire Date on the Employment screen, the employee's Hire/Rehire Date appears in the Initial Measurement Hire Date field to indicate the employee is being tracked as a new hire and this is an initial measurement period for the employee. The Initial Measurement Hire Date field cannot be changed.
The dates for when the measurement period (or initial measurement period, if applicable) begins and ends appear in the Start Date and End Date fields under Measurement Period. The dates default in based on the settings specified for the years within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option. The Start Date and End Date fields under Measurement Period cannot be changed.
If the hours worked do not need to be tracked for the employee (for example, if the employee is already offered benefits and will continue to always be offered benefits), select the Exempt From Tracking Hours field. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.
Note: Employees with this field selected will initially be filtered out (not displayed) when viewing the total hours worked by employees within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option, while determining if employees are considered full time (or trending towards full time) and then must be offered health insurance. This field does not affect if the hours worked are actually tracked for the employee in the Payroll module.
If the hours worked are not being tracked for the employee and the employee does work full time (works an average of 30 hours or more per week), select the Report As Full Time field to include the employee in all the full-time employee counts on the appropriate Affordable Care Act reports, including Form 1094-C. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected. If the hours worked are being tracked for the employee, leave the Report As Full Time field unselected to have the system determine the full-time status based on the hours worked by the employee and include the employee in the proper full-time employee counts, if applicable.
Note: Employees with this field selected will initially be filtered out (not displayed) when viewing the total hours worked by employees within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option, while determining if employees are considered full time (or trending towards full time) and then must be offered health insurance. This field is disabled if Ineligible is specified in the Initial Benefit Status field.
If this is an initial measurement period for the employee (the employee was hired within the current period being edited and the Track as ACA New Hire field was selected for the Hire/Rehire Date on the Employment screen), enter the appropriate code (Accepted, Declined, or Ineligible) for the benefit status of the employee during the initial measurement period in the Initial Benefit Status field, or click the down-arrow button to select the correct one. If the employee was offered and accepted health insurance benefits during the initial measurement period, enter Accepted. If the employee was offered but did not accept health insurance benefits during the initial measurement period, enter Declined. If the employee was not eligible to be offered health insurance benefits during the initial measurement period but will have hours tracked for future consideration, enter Ineligible (only applicable if the Report As Full Time field is not selected).
Note: If the Report As Full Time field is selected, the Initial Benefit Status field must be completed and only Accepted or Declined can be entered (or selected).
If Accepted or Declined is specified in the Initial Benefit Status field, the Initial Benefit Eligibility Date field is enabled. Enter the date in which the employee is eligible for the health insurance benefits during the initial measurement period (whether accepted or declined) in the Initial Benefit Eligibility Date field. Use the mm/dd/yyyy format or click the down-arrow button to select the correct date. This field is used to indicate if there is a waiting period before the employee is eligible for the health insurance benefits during the initial measurement period; if there is not a waiting period (the employee is eligible for the health insurance benefits immediately upon hiring), enter the employee's hire date here.
The number entered as the default number of weeks in the break in service for employees for the specified year as defined within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option appears in the Default Service Break field. The Default Service Break field cannot be changed.
In the Service Break field, enter the appropriate option (No, Override, or Yes) to indicate if the employee has a break in service, or click the down-arrow button to select the correct one. If the employee works all year long (does not have a break in service), enter No. If the employee has a break in service and the number of weeks in the break in service is different than the default (as shown in the Default Service Break field), enter Override. If the employee has a break in service and the number of weeks in the break in service is the same as the default (as shown in the Default Service Break field), enter Yes.
Tip: A break in service is defined within the Affordable Care Act guidelines as at least 4 consecutive weeks during which an employee is not working and is not credited with any hours of service (such as from vacation or sick leave, etc.), and is applicable for educational organizations only. When calculating the total hours per week average for a measurement period for an employee with a service break, an employer can either exclude the service break weeks in the computation, or treat the employee as credited with hours of service for the service break at a rate equal to the average hours per week rate when the employee was working, with a maximum of up to 501 hours of service credited for service break periods in a calendar year. The School Accounting System uses the second method of crediting hours of service for the service break, up to 501 hours of service.
If Override is specified in the Service Break field, the Service Break Weeks field is enabled. If applicable, enter the number of weeks in the break(s) in service for the employee in the Service Break Weeks field. The number must be 0 or from 4 to 52 (no decimals).
If the employee has a period of unpaid leave for FMLA, USERRA, or jury duty in the measurement period, enter the number of weeks in the Special Unpaid Leave Weeks field. The number must be 0 to 52 (including up to 4 decimal places).
Tip: As stated within the Affordable Care Act guidelines, when calculating the total hours per week average for a measurement period for an employee with special unpaid leave, an employer can either exclude the special unpaid leave weeks in the computation, or treat the employee as credited with hours of service for the special unpaid leave at a rate equal to the average hours per week rate when the employee was working. The School Accounting System uses the second method of crediting hours of service for the special unpaid leave.
The dates for when the stability period begins and ends appear in the Start Date and End Date fields under Stability Period. The dates default in based on the settings specified for the years within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option. The Start Date and End Date fields under Stability Period cannot be changed.
Only during the administrative period, enter the appropriate code (Accepted, Declined, or Ineligible) for the benefit status of the employee for the stability period in the Benefit Status field, or click the down-arrow button to select the correct one. If the employee was offered and accepted benefits for the stability period, enter Accepted. If the employee was offered but did not accept benefits for the stability period, enter Declined. If the employee was not eligible to be offered benefits for the stability period but will have hours tracked for future consideration, enter Ineligible.
Click the Save button.
If desired, to view a graphical diagram of all the measurement, administrative, and stability periods for the employee, click the Timeline button.
The employee's total hours worked for each year's measurement period (in which the employee had payroll earnings) appears in the Hours Tracking List.
For each measurement period that displays, the following information appears:
A checkmark will appear in the Initial Measurement Period field if this is an initial measurement period for the employee (there is a date in the Initial Measurement Hire Date field (under Measurement Period) in the Measurement Periods List at the top of the screen).
The Measurement Start Date and Measurement End Date fields reflect the data from the Start Date and End Date fields (under Measurement Period) in the Measurement Periods List at the top of the screen.
The To Date Weeks field displays the number of weeks from the Measurement Start Date through the date shown in the Through Last Worked Date field.
If applicable, the number of service break weeks defined for the employee in the Measurement Periods List (above) or the default service break weeks defined within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option appears in the Service Break Weeks field. If the employee does not have a break in service, 0 appears in this field.
If applicable, the number of unpaid leave weeks for FMLA, USERRA, or jury duty defined for the employee in the Measurement Periods List (above) appears in the Special Unpaid Leave Weeks field. If the employee did not have special unpaid leave, 0 appears in this field.
The total number of hours the employee has worked during the specific measurement period appears in the Hours Worked field.
The Through Last Worked Date field displays the Last Worked Date from the latest posted or unposted payroll calculation batch if the current computer date is within the measurement period; otherwise, if the current computer date or the Last Worked Date from the latest posted or unposted payroll calculation batch is after the end of the measurement period, the date will be the Measurement End Date of the measurement period.
The Hours Per Week field under With Service Break reflects the average hours per week from the beginning of the measurement period through the date in the Through Last Worked Date field, and including the service break and special unpaid leave weeks in the calculation, if applicable. To see the details for calculating the average hours per week including the service break and special unpaid leave weeks, click the Go To button.
If the employee is considered to be working full time based on the number in the Hours Per Week field under With Service Break (is 30 or greater), a checkmark will appear in the Full Time field under With Service Break.
The Hours Per Week under Without Service Break reflects the average hours per week from the beginning of the measurement period through the date in the Through Last Worked Date field, and excluding the service break weeks but including the special unpaid leave weeks in the calculation, if applicable. To see the details for calculating the average hours per week excluding the service break weeks and including the special unpaid leave weeks, click the Go To button.
If the employee is considered to be working full time based on the number in the Hours Per Week field under Without Service Break (is 30 or greater), a checkmark will appear in the Full Time field under Without Service Break.
Note: If applicable, the hours from Payroll checks (or direct deposit stubs) that were voided are excluded.
To view the detailed earnings records (including the number of hours worked) for the employee in the specific measurement period, click the plus sign (+) in the box in front of the measurement period. The payroll earnings information will appear with each payroll calculation batch (and pay period entry or employee absence batch) and pay code listed as a separate entry. If needed, make the desired changes to the entries.
To adjust the number of hours worked, click in the Hours Worked field (column) for the desired entry and key the new number of hours worked (will be rounded to 4 decimal places).
If applicable, to change the starting or ending date, click in the Start Date or End Date field (column) for the desired entry and then enter the correct date. Use the mm/dd/yyyy format or click the down-arrow button to select the correct date.
To not have the hours worked for an entry tracked for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Hours Tracking option (will still be tracked for inclusion on the other applicable government reports, such as retirement and unemployment reports), select the Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected. The Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field is only applicable for entries for contract pay codes, and the field will be selected or unselected by default, based on whether or not the Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field was selected when completing the payroll calculation for the entry.
Tip: Typically, the Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking field is selected for entries during the summer months if a contract employee who is defined with a service break (on the ACA Hours screen in the Employee File) is getting paid while on break; for example, select the field for the appropriate entries that paid the June, July, and August wages for a contract employee who is defined with a service break for the summer months.
Click the Save button to save any changes.
Note: Only the Hours Worked, Start Date, End Date, and Exclude Contract Hours From ACA Tracking fields that appear in white (rather than gray) can be adjusted.
Continue adding the remaining information for the employee if needed.