user guide for position management: procedures ...€¦ · web viewrevision and added comments on...

UNDPOffice of Planning and Budgeting (OPB)/BoM

Position Management: User Guide, Procedures, Delegation of Authority,

Document Name User Guide for Position Management: Procedures & Delegation of Authority [Internal Documentation]

Language(s) EnglishResponsible (unit) Office of Planning and Budgeting (OPB)Subject (Taxonomy) Position ManagementDate created 28 June 2009Location/File Name OPB Share drive:

S:\BST\POSITION MGMT\DOC_PROCEDURES_GUIDES\Position-Management_User-Guide_<lastdate>.docx UNDP Intranet: Financial Resources Management

Document RepositoryAudience OPB staff (for centrally managed positions)

Assigned staff in Position Owning Offices (for positions which management is decentralized)

Applicability (Internal-to-OPB) Procedures and User Guide for maintaining and monitoring UNDP Positions

Is part of Internal Procedures of OPBRelated and source documents

Position Management procedures (Financial Guide)

Version Date Author(s) Revision Notes1 28 June 2009 Patricia Leon Fedak First Draft2 29 June 2009 Mihail Komnev Revision comments3 30 June 2009 Mihail Komnev, Patricia Leon

FedakUpdates under Section II.2.

4 10 August 2009 Patricia Leon Fedak Update under Section I.4.3. (on Change in Title)

5 24 September 2009

Patricia Leon Fedak Revision and added comments on (i) General Lien position types, (ii) Upward/Downward reclassification request – OPB’s validation actions, and (iii) Considerations to keep in mind when an encumbered position is requested for reclassification due change in the position’s job description

6 28 September 2009

Patricia Leon Fedak Revision of data entry under field Rotational Indicator.

7 22 February 2010 Patricia Leon Fedak Update on “Pre-requisites for Position Monetization” under Section I.4.

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Executive Summary

This document covers the Position Management in UNDP. (Management of other agencies positions is decentralized in the respective agencies). This document is a comprehensive documentation of various position management related processes and a compilation of several user guides and manuals that were created in the past.

It also serves as a guide to any OPB staff to perform position management functions and transactions in Atlas to ensure business continuity under any back-stopping event.

The document is divided into two main sections:

SECTION 1: This section covers the following –

Brief description of the workflow from the creation of a new position to the hiring stage; Definitions of positions and relationships between position and appointment types; Delegation of authority when managing positions; Position management transactions; Expected response time (from OPB) to external clients’ position management related

requests; Use of existing query reports for analysis, monitoring and oversight of positions.

SECTION 2: This section provides a synthesized “user guide” with step-by-step instructions for position management related transactions in Atlas.

It should be kept in mind that this document will undergo further amendments in the future as some of the processes (such as monitoring/oversight, access to pro-forma costs for International Professionals) that are currently done manually are expected to be automated in Atlas in the short/medium term.

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SECTION I

I.1. Business workflow

(a) Creation of a New Position to Hiring Stage Workflow:

(b) Position Management Workflow:

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OHROHROHROPB(Except for local unit XB funded)

Position Owning

Unit

HirePosition Creation

Recruitment Position Classificatio

n

Budget

Project manager identifies additional human resource requirement within his/her project.

Project manager estimates the budgetary requirement based on whether a short-term (TA) or a longer term (FTA) contract needs to be issued using the corresponding proforma costs

Additional Human Resource need

identifed

Budgeting

Submission of request to establish

new position

Once sufficient funding is available, project manager sends a request for a new position to be created to the Position Administrator along with the following information:

(1) Confirmation of funding availability issued in writing by the corresponding fund manager.

(2) COA(s) where the approved budget sits(3) Appointment Type(4) Efective date and Duration(5) Position Title(6) Position Level(7) Duty Station

Position creationPosition Administrator (OPB or position owning unit as indicate in delegation of authority rules) creates a new positionion and associates the funding COA. Requesting unit should verify the chartfields and ascertain that sufficient funding is available against the project budget(s) being charged for the position.

Communication of the new position

number

Position Administrator inform on the new position number to the corresponding requesting unit as well as OHR/ODBU



I.2. Definitions of positions and Delegation of Authority

Following are the high level definitions and delegation of authority guidelines for most commonly used position types:

EBAP (Executive Board Approved Positions)

Definition: These are positions approved by the Executive Board (EB) within the framework of the Biennial Support Budget. The funding should always be Core (fund 02xxx).These positions are intended for Fixed-Term, Continuing and Permanent Appointments staff assigned to Management Projects.

Delegation of authority: OPB manages these positions centrally.

Management Project Positions

Definition: Replaces the old position types i.e. Management Project 100 and 200-series. These are positions intended for Fixed-Term, Continuing and Permanent Appointments staff assigned to Management Projects. These positions are created and approved within a Budgetary Department based on funds available from Central Service XB, Reimbursable Services, Unit-XB and Project resources. MPR Positions funded from Project resources are NOT issued to locally recruited staff.

Delegation of authority: The management of this type of positions FOR LOCALLY-RECUITED EMPLOYEES ONLY AND UNIT XB FUNDED is decentralized to country offices. All International professional, regardless funding and location and all HQ-based/HQ-unit funded positions are managed centrally in OPB.

Development Project

Definition: These are positions intended for ALL Fixed-Term, Continuing and Permanent Appointments staff assigned to Development Projects.

Delegation of authority: These positions will be created, approved and managed completely by country offices, except when it relates to International Professional appointments and GS/NY as these are centrally managed in OPB.

Temporary

Definition: These are positions intended for Temporary Appointments staff assigned to Management or Development Projects. These positions are created and approved within a Budgetary Department based on funds available from Central Service XB, Reimbursable Services, Unit-XB and Project resources. Temporary positions funded from Project resources are NOT issued to locally recruited staff.

Delegation of authority: The management of these positions FOR LOCALLY-RECUITED EMPLOYEES regardless its funding is decentralized to position owning units. All International professional positions, regardless its funding and location are managed centrally in OPB.

Separation

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Definition: These are positions that need to be created for a staff member who has signed a separation agreement and to whom payments need to be made from the agreed separation budget. The position is created for a specific staff and the staff’s index number is entered in the “Lien Holder” field.Delegation of authority: These positions will be managed by the office where the staff member was last assigned for local staff and centrally managed by OPB for IP and GS/NY staff. Confirmation note from OHR on the Agreed Separation is required. The funding for the agreed separations is centrally managed by OHR under predetermined projects which OPB should use.

Fully Billable

Definition: These are positions intended for employees who are managed by UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNIFEM, or UNCDF, but whose costs are borne fully by an external entity.

Delegation of authority: These positions for locally recruited employees will be created, approved and managed completely by country offices, except when it relates to International Professionals and GS/NY staff, which are managed by OPB. Partially Billable

Definition: These are positions intended for employees who are managed by UNDP, UNFPA, UNOPS, UNIFEM, or UNCDF, but whose costs are borne partially by an external entity. A position with this position type will always have more than one funding distribution line.

Delegation of authority: These positions for locally recruited employees are managed by country offices. Positions for International Professionals and GS/NY staff are managed centrally in OPB.

General Lien

Definition: When a staff member goes on a mission, or is seconded or on loan to another UN entity/ agency, two scenarios are possible: (a) The person leaves with a specific lien on his/her current position, or (b) the person leaves with no specific lien on any position, but with the understanding that he/she will need to be ‘absorbed’ upon return.

The scenario (a) will be the only case (except during handover phase) where a ‘double-encumbered’ or ‘over-allocated’ situation will be allowed; i.e., two staff could be sitting against the same position, one being the temporary replacement being paid for the duration of the lien, and the other holding a lien until his/her return. There should never be a situation where two staff are paid against the same position, without prior approval from OPB.

In the scenario (b), a General Lien type position will need to be created to hold the staff member for the duration of the mission, secondment, or loan. The position is created for a specific staff and the staff’s index number is entered in the “Lien Holder” field.

Delegation of authority: A General Lien type position should always be created and managed centrally by OPB. In addition, such commitments should not be made to a staff member without prior consultation with OPB.

Unassigned

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Definition: These are positions created for employees who are in transition between one assignment to another, and being funded temporarily from general savings. The position is created for a specific staff and the staff’s index number is entered in the “Lien Holder” field.

Delegation of authority: OPB manages these positions centrally.

After Service Health Insurance

Definition and Delegation of Authority: All positions that need to be created for tracking all After Service Health Insurance/After Service Life Insurance (ASHI/ASLI) staff will be managed by the offices managing such staff. As these retirees are not on payroll, one position per office can be set up for all retirees. The "Max Head Count" on the Specific Information page should be set for the estimated number of retirees in the office. This position type has no funding implications and therefore no chartfields need to be associated to such positions.

I.3. Relationship between position types and appointment types

No Position Types in Atlas Abrev

RelationshipTA FTA CA PA

1 After Service Health Insurance ASHI n/a ASHI

2 Development Project DEVP TEMP DEVP3 Executive Board Approved positions EBAP n/a EBAP4 General Lien LIEN n/a LIEN5 Management Project Position MPRP TEMP MPRP

6 Separation SEPA n/a SEPA7 Temporary Appointment TEMP TEMP n/a8 Unassigned UNAS n/a UNAS9 Fully Billable FBIL FBIL

10 Partially Billable PBIL PBIL

I.4. Position Management Transactions (those that are centralized in OPB only)

Position management transactions in Atlas are as follows:

1. Creation of new positions2. Extension of existing positions3. Maintenance of existing positions4. Monetization of vacant positions

Following is detailed explanation of the above listed transactions regarding activities such as required OPB’s approval, needed supporting documentation and information and notification addressees:

1. Creation of new positions

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Position type OPB's approval Supporting documents & information Who should be notified

EBAP YesEB decision for the current Biennial Support Budget The funding should always be Core (fund 02xxx)

Position owning/requesting unit

OHR/ODBU OPB focal point for

Corporate Position Management

MPRP

Yes (if funding is from Core, Central Services XB or RS)

1. Confirmation of funding availability issued in writing by the corresponding fund manager.

2. COA(s) where the approved budget sits3. Appointment Type4. Efective date and Duration5. Position Title6. Position Level7. Duty Station


OHR/ODBU

Development Project No




OHR/ODBU

Separation No

1. Confirmation from OHR on approved separation for a specific staff - Regular Separation or Separation Package

2. Position Level3. Effective Date and Duration4. S/m’s Name and Index Number

Requestor (OHR)

TEMP





OHR/ODBU

Unassigned No

1. Request from OHR along with a copy of the Search Letter for displaced staff

2. Staff’s Name and Index Number3. Position Level4. Effective Date and Duration5. Duty Station

Requestor (OHR)

General Lien No

1. Request from OHR along with a copy of the communication related to SLWOP mission assignment or secondment of a staff

2. Staff’s Name and Index Number3. Effective Date and Duration

Requestor (OHR)

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Fully/Partially Billable

No

1. Request from OHR along with a copy of the signed MOU for the Reimbursable Loan

2. Staff’s Name and Index Number3. Position Level4. Effective date and duration5. Position’s Duty Station

Requestor (OHR)

2. Extension of existing positions


EBAP Yes1. Post number2. EB decision for the current Biennial

Support Budget


OPB focal point for Corporate Position Management

MPRP


1. Post number2. Confirmation of funding availability

issued in writing by the corresponding fund manager.

3. COA(s) where the approved budget sits4. Appointment Type5. Duration


Development Project No





Separation No

1. Post number2. Confirmation from OHR on approved

separation for a specific staff - Regular Separation or Separation Package

3. Duration

Requestor (OHR)

Temporary Appointment


1. Post number2. OPB/OHR concurrence of exceptional

extension of temporary appointment3. Confirmation of funding availability




OHR/ODBU

Unassigned No

1. Post number2. Request from OHR along with a copy of

the Search Letter for displaced staff3. Duration

Requestor (OHR)

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General Lien No


the communication related to SLWOP mission assignment or secondment of a staff

3. Duration

Requestor (OHR)

Fully/Partially Billable

No


the signed MOU for the Reimbursable Loan

3. Staff’s Name and Index Number4. Duration

Requestor (OHR)

3. Maintenance of existing positions

Maintenance related transaction

OPB's approval Supporting documents & information Who should be notified

Redeployment (change of duty station)


1. Post number2. Written concurrence from bureau/unit

and BoM/directorate (if applicable)3. Effective date4. New duty station5. If the funding changes, the new COA


OPB focal point for Corporate Position Management (for Core, Central Services XB/RS funded only)

Change in Budgeted Level



issued in writing by the corresponding fund manager (additional approval from ExO required for upward changes in budgeted levels to D1/P6 and above).

3. New post level4. Effective date



Corporate Position Management (for Core, Central Services XB/RS funded only)

Change in Post Title

THIS TRANSACTION IS DONE BY OHR/ODBU. OPB cannot change the title of a position without a prior approval from OHR/ODU as the title is directly linked to the final/latest position classification decision. The requesting unit/office should escalate their request to OHR/ODU. If the requesting unit wants to change the position title then they will have to submit a request for a re-classification along with a new job description.

[When OPB creates a new position this is based on the original position owning unit request. OHR/ODU, once the classification process is completed, if applicable i.e. the classification decision implies change in the position title, amends the job code (classification title) in the position record in Atlas.]

Double Incumbency

THIS TRANSACTION IS DONE BY OHR. FOR CORE/CENTRAL SERVICES XB/RS FUNDED POSITION OPB’S APPROVAL IS REQUIRED.

Freeze


1. Post number2. Effective date and duration




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Maintenance related transaction

OPB's approval Supporting documents & information Who should be notified

Change in COA

Yes (if change is linked to funs Core, Central Services XB or RS and B_Dept)

If change is not linked to Core/Central Services XB/RS funds, the corresponding post owning unit is responsible in updating/amending the Position Distribution Entry page in Atlas. Otherwise:

1. Post number2. New COA3. Effective date


OPB focal point for Corporate Position Management (for Core, Central Services XB/RS funded only)

Abolishment


1. Post number2. Effective date




4. Monetization of vacant positions

Monetization of a position is considered on an exceptional basis and when the conditions below are met.

a) The post requested for monetization should be vacant; b) The post owner has initiated the recruitment process for this post and/or has not been

successful in filling the post;c) For the record, the post owner needs to express and justify the need of a resource to

temporarily fill the functions of the vacant post while the recruitment process is completed;

d) In view of item (c) and due to the temporary nature attached to monetization, it is the expectation that the temporary resource will be in the form of consultancies, i.e. SSA or any other non staff contract for a period of not more than six months;

e) In exceptional circumstances such as extended search or unit structural re-alignment temporary assistance (e.g. TA) can be considered

f) During monetization period, the post will be frozen to avoid any "accidental" hiring under the same post.

g) There is no additional cost implication and monetization ceiling is up to the pro-forma base salary plus post adjustment of the post in concern.

h) Monetizations could also be considered for posts whose current incumbents have been authorized to take Special Leave Without Pay (SLWoP). Under the latter, conditions (c), (d) and (g) apply. With regard to condition d), under SLWoP, the monetization period may be considered for the duration of the authorized SLWoP.

I.5. Response Time to external clients’ position management related requests Provided that all supporting documents and information were submitted, OPB should be in a position to respond to position management requests in the range period of 24 hours (between working days).

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I.6. Reports useful for analysis, monitoring and oversight of positions and Pro-forma Costs

Position-related Atlas query reportsFollowing are position-related query reports available in Atlas HCM:(Navigation path: Atlas HCM > Reporting Tools > Query > Query Viewer)

1. UN_POSITIONS_ENCUMBERED - Gives a list of encumbered posts with funding COA and incumbent information.

2. UN_POSITIONS_VACANT - Gives a list of vacant posts with funding COA.

3. UN_POSITION_NUM_IMIS2ATLAS - Provides a simplified crosswalk from IMIS to Atlas numbers by entering an IMIS number

4. UN_POSITIONS_MASTER_TABLE - Provides a crosswalk from IMIS and Atlas for a range of budget departments along with other relevant position-related information such COA components

Please keep in mind the following when using queries “UN_POSITIONS_ENCUMBERED” and “UN_POSITIONS_VACANT”:

The resulting extract table contains encumbering or vacant positions only. Fields "position department" and "COA department" do not refer to the same

department. A position department is the department under which the position "sits"; a COA department is the department where the funding source is coming from.

In the resulting query report for encumbered positions, one position may be linked to more than one COA's i.e. rows. (This is in the event of cost sharing or cost distribution among different departments or projects or activities.)

Pro-forma Costs reports available in Atlas and UNDP Intranet

International ProfessionalAll pro-forma costs for International Professional positions (archives since 2006) are posted at the UNDP Intranet in the Financial Resources Management Document Repository. Click on any of the folders named as “<year> Planning and Budgeting” of the year you are looking for. Pro-forma costs for years 2008 and 2009 can be found under the folder “Position Management”.

Following are links to directly access the current pro-forma costs for International Professional positions under different appointment modalities:

2009 Pro-Forma Costs for International Professionals under FTA, CA, PA appointments (posted at the UNDP Intranet in the Finance Document Repository) funded from Core and Non Core

Latest (June update) 2009 Pro-Forma Costs for International Professionals under TA appointments (posted at the UNDP Intranet in the Finance Document Repository) funded from Core and Non Core

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http://content.undp.org/go/prescriptive/Financial-Resources-Management---Prescriptive-Content/download/?d_id=2018027&






http://content.undp.org/go/prescriptive/Financial-Resources-Management---Prescriptive-Content/?bbp.11.pane=0&bbp.70.row=1496447.f&bbp.16.pane=0&bbp.v=142090&bbp.e=s&bbp.s=23&bbp.9.pane=0&bbp.10.pane=0&page_to_display=0&doc_id=1496448&bbp.12.pane=0&bbp.151.



Local Positions (National Officers/General Service)2009 Pro-forma Costs for National Officers and General Service Staff under TA, FTA, CA and PA appointments are available in Atlas HCM (navigation paths are shown in parenthesis):

In PDF format (Atlas HCM > UN Reports > HRMS > Proforma Staff Costs) In MS Excel format (Atlas HCM > Query > Query Viewer >

“UN_PRO_FORMA_SALARY_CURRENT”)

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https://hr.partneragencies.org/psc/UNDPP1HR_newwin/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/q/?ICAction=ICQryNameExcelURL=PUBLIC.UN_PRO_FORMA_SALARY_CURRENT

https://hr.partneragencies.org/psp/UNDPP1HR/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/UN_REPORTS.UN_RUN_HR553.GBL?PORTALPARAM_PTCNAV=UN_RUN_HR553&EOPP.SCNode=HRMS&EOPP.SCPortal=EMPLOYEE&EOPP.SCName=UN_REPORTS&EOPP.SCLabel=HRMS&EOPP.SCFName=HRMS&EOPP.SCSecondary=true&EOPP.SCPTfname=



SECTION II

II.1. Step-by-step instructions to establish and maintain positions in Atlas

There are two parts of entries when establishing a new positions or updating records of an existing positions:

A) Position-related information entryB) Position Distribution (COA) data entry

A) Position-related information entry for Transaction: Creating new positionNavigation: Atlas HCM > Organizational Development > Position Management > Maintain Positions/Budgets > Add/Update Position Info

1. Click on Add a New Value.2. Do not enter a value in the Position Number field. The system will automatically

number the position when it is saved.3. Click the Add button. The Description page will appear. This is the first of two pages

(“Description” and “UN Position Data”) where you will capture position specific data. 4. The Effective Date should reflect the date on which Position will become active.5. Accept the default Status value - "Active". A Position must be active in order to be

able to place an employee against it.6. Accept the default Reason value - "NEW".7. The Job Code1 is the UN equivalent for the Post Description and Post level. Select

the value for the proposed classified title of the Position. Use only numeric Job Codes (exapmple 640-11) ICS standard equivalencies to grade levels:

ICS Standard

Equivalent grade Title

ICS-01 G1ICS-02 G2ICS-03 G3 ClerkICS-04 G4 AssistantICS-05 G5 AssistantICS-06 G6 AssociateICS-07 G7 AssociateICS-08 NOA/P1 AnalystICS-09 NOB/P2 AnalystICS-10 NOC/P3 SpecialistICS-11 NOD/P4 SpecialistICS-12 P5 Advisor, Team LeaderICS-13 P6/D1 Chief, Team LeaderICS-14 P7/D2 DirectorASG ASG Assistant Secretary GeneralUSG USG Under Secretary General

8. The Department2 field refers to the unit to which the position is attached. An expenditure department (non-‘B’) should be selected.

9. The Location field refers to the duty station. The location code arrives from the Department. It can be overriten with new value. Select the correct value.

1 For General Lien position types, Job Code should be the same as the staff member’s current title (this information should be provided by the requesting unit) 2 Department for all General Lien position types should be used as: “00101” - NSpecific/HQ/Central Support

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10. Select a value if the Position number that this new Position Reports To is in the system. If not leave the field blank.

11. The Company field refers to the agency that owns the Position. UN sister agencies and/or external agencies will be identified by using this field in cases where UNDP is administering staff on their behalf.

12. A Salary Admin Plan3 value will default in from the Job Code. This the classified level of the Job and is a General Salary Plan. Change this to the Salary Plan of the location if the post is local (i.e. <AAA> + ‘G’ or <AAA> + ‘N’, where <AAA> is country three-digit ISO code). For international professional positions use code ‘UUUP’.

13. Select the appropriate Salary Grade for the Position.14. Enter Step '99'. This value is associated to the pro forma cost of the position's

funding and is not a valid step for payroll purposes.15. Leave all other values as defaulted. Ensure Business Unit and Reg Region are

defaulted to UNDP1.

Click the Specific Information tab. The Max Head Count value will default to "1". Except in ‘specific lien’ cases, this should always be 1.

Click the UN Position Data tab.

16. Enter the Position Start Date.17. Enter the Position End Date.18. Click on the drop down arrow beside the Position Type field to view the valid values.

Select the appropriate value.19. Click on the drop down arrow beside the Rotational Indicator field to view the valid

values. a. For ALL international FTA positions, field Rotational Indicator to be filled as:

“Rotational”b. For ALL TAs (International and Local) and ALL Local positions (including HQ-

based GS) positions, field Rotational Indicator to be filled as: “Non Rotational”c. For General Lien position types, field Rotational Indicator to be filled as: “Not

Applicable”.In the event that the status of the ‘Rotational Indicator’ of a position will change (as result of the position classification process) OHR/ODU will amend/correct this field accordingly.

20. If there is a specific lien against the position4, enter the EmplID in the Lien Holder field. Otherwise leave the filed empty.

21. If there is a specific lien against the position, enter the expiry date in the Lien Expiry Date field. Otherwise leave the field empty.

22. Enter the Dept Set ID as "UNDP1".23. Select the Department code of the Department which is authorizing the creation of

this position. In most of the cases the Department is “28101”24. Enter the name of the person who approved the Position under “Approved By:”

field.25. Enter a succinct but sufficient explanation under “Additional Position Info:” field

about who requested and approved the new post creation and reference the email date.

3 For General Lien position types, Salary Admin Plan should be the same as the staff member’s current personal level (this information should be provided by the requesting unit).

4 This is applicable for General Lien position types.

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26. Click the Save button. If the Reports To field has been left blank, the following Warning will appear. Click OK to complete the Save. Make note of the position number assigned.

B) Position Distribution (COA) data entry: Associating chart-fields to new position5

Navigation – There are two ways to enter chartfields to a position:

i. At the bottom in the “UN Position Data” Tab click on the link “Position Distribution Entry”; OR

ii. Altas HCM > Global Payroll > Time and Labor/GL Costs > GP GL/GP RA Maintenance > Position Distribution Entry > Add a New Value (or Find and Existing Value – as applicable)

Steps to enter position distribution data:1. Click on Add a New Value.2. Enter the Position Number created in the last step of the position creation process.3. Click the Add button.4. Enter the date from which this specific chartfield combination funding will be

available in the *Effective Date field.5. Click on the Lookup icon beside the General Ledger Unit field to see a list of valid

values. Select "UNDP1".6. Select the appropriate values for all the other chartfields, as provided by the project

manager. The Department chartfield must be an expenditure department, i.e., not beginning with a ‘B’.

7. Enter 100 in the Percentage field if budget is against one line only.8. The Position can be charged to many chartfield combination lines, representing

different budgets. If applicable, click on the ‘+’ button next to the line and create another row of chartfield values. The total percentage for all lines must equal 100.

9. Click on the Save button.

Note: The second time onwards that you need to correct or change the funding chartfields on the position, you will select “Find an Existing Value” tab in step a. above. In order to make changes to the funding lines on converted projects, you will select Find an Existing Value”.

II.2. Handy-Tips & lessons learned on Position Management

Reviewing some of the Atlas position’s elements/fields here are some handy-tips and lesson learned from situations you may encounter while managing positions.

5 For General Lien position types we do not enter any COA related information.

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1) Effective Date field

When creating a new position, the effective date field determines when the position can be used for recruitment and when the position can be seen on the reports. If creating position with future effective date, the position will not appear on the Staffing Table Report or any queries until this future date.

Inserting position record/row between existing records/rows.In some cases, you may need to insert a position record between existing records. When doing this, you need to click on “Include History” and “View All” first. Then determine between which records the new record should be inserted. Click on the “+” above the preceding (older) record. The system will generate a new record using the information from the preceding record. Change the effective date and the information you need to modify on this new record and save.Example: You need to change the location of a position effective 01 May 2009. The position already has records effective 01/01/09 –“Update Position” and effective 01/07/09 – “CRT – Contractual Reform Transition”.

1. Click “Include History” and then “View All” on top of the page.2. Click the “+” on top of the record effective 01/01/09 “Update Position”.3. The system will insert a new record with effective date 01/01/09. Change

this date to 01/05/09.4. Select Reason “Position Redeployed”.5. Change the Department and/or Location to reflect the new location. This will

automatically reset the Salary Admin Plan to default (UUUI).6. Restore the original Salary Admin Plan.7. Save 8. Now you need to modify the record following the one you just inserted. Click

“Correct History”.9. On the record effective 01/07/09 – CRT - Contractual Reform Transition,

change the Department and/or Location as in step e).10. Repeat steps f) and g).

2) Status field

The Status field has only two options – “Active” and “Inactive”. When “Inactive” is selected, the position cannot be used for recruitment and will not appear on the reports. Ideally, all positions which are no longer in use should be inactivated.

3) Position Status field

This field has 3 options – “Approved”, “Frozen” and “Proposed”. When frizzing position, you need to add 2 position records – first effective the freeze date indicating Position Status “Frozen”. The second record should be effective on the next day after the freeze expire to restore the “Approved” position status. Please note that “Frozen” status will not stop a recruitment action against the position. It will only generate a warning message.

4) Job Code field

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When creating a new position, the best way to search for the proposed title and level is by level. Also, always use numeric Job Code – these are the only official Job Codes for regular UNDP positions. Select the closest Job Code to the proposed title and level even if it’s not exact match.

Example: The proposed title and level for a new position submitted by an office is “Programme Advisor” at P3 level. On the Job Code field enter %-10 (see the table above) and click search. The list with available Job Codes for P3 level will appear. You will not find Job Code for “Advisor” at P3 level. Select “Programme Specialist” Job Code instead. The official classification title/job code assigned by OHR will most likely match you selection.

5) Department/Location fields

Each Department code in Atlas HCM is linked to a location code. When entering the Department code on the position, the default location will be populated in the Location field. You can override this default location code. The list of location codes can be found by running Atlas HCM queries “UN_LOCATIONS_IN_A_COUNTRY” or “UN_REF_DEPT_WITH_LOCATION”

6) Chart-fields distribution

When entering COA for a position, it is good practice to let Atlas validate the COA. Once you enter all the COA elements up to the Project code, click on the search next to the Project code field to make sure the project is under the specified PC Business Unit. Atlas will validate the rest of the chart-fields you just entered and will highlight any errors. Then select the Activity from the available list by clicking search next to the Activity field. Incorrectly spelled activity is the most often PVR (Position Validation Report) error.

7) Incorrectly recorded to GL payroll expenditures due to incorrect COA on the position

In case the payroll expenditures for a staff are incorrectly recorded to GL, the position owning office should reverse the charges to the correct COA using GLJE. OPB can assist the offices by providing details on the payroll charges for a staff. The payroll details can be obtained by using HCM query UN_ATLASPAYROLL_BY_CHARTFIELDS.

8) Validation of Funding Availability

When receiving a request for new position or for extension or upgrade of existing position, it is a good practice to verify thefunding provided by the requestor prior creating or modifying the position. You can do this in many different ways, but one place where you can verify the level 1 and project

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budget is the Executive Snapshot. Look at the information under Financial Management -> Resource Analysis -> Financial Details by Fundand drill down to project and activity level. Also, you should look at the project budget in Atlas finance module – Grants -> Awards – Project Budgets.

9) Considerations to keep in mind when receiving requests of upward/downward reclassifications

a. OPB verifies the current post number and level as provided and indicated in the received request and validates fund availability (verification of Allocation level 1 and Project Budget level 2) in Atlas. Note that validation of core BSB positions against approved BSB post levels should be performed in first place.

b. OPB confirms or rejects results of validations in item (1) and informs OHR/ODU accordingly. No further action in Atlas is taken at this point.

c. OHR upon OPB’s confirmation in item (2), initiates process of review of the reclassification request.

d. OHR completes the review and reclassification process and informs OPB (corresponding to portfolio OPB focal point) to update position records in Atlas.

e. OPB updates position records in Atlas and informs requesting unit and OHR/ODU.

10) Considerations to keep in mind when an encumbered position is requested for reclassification due change in the position’s job description.If the contract of the incumbent is close to its expiration date and the position owning unit has no plans to extend the incumbent’s contract, OPB, jointly with the requesting unit , should discuss and analyze the option of creating a new position rather than updating the records of the existing one. This is in relation to the possible conflict that may emerge in the event that the change of the job description is linked to a subsequent advertisement of the position (which may still be encumbered).

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