UCPath Glossary of Terms

 

UCPATH TERM

DEFINITION

Absence Management Leave Administration Module in UCPath used to plan and manage absence events (including extended leaves) and calculate vacation, sick time, PTO accruals

Approval Workflow Engine(AWE)

Tool for automatic routing of transactions for approval(s) prior to being committed to UCPath.
AWE Approver UCPath role for approval workflow assigned to the individual responsible for reviewing and approving/denying transactions locally.
AWE Administrator UCPath role with administrative rights to manage AWE transactions. This role is limited to the central operations unit.
Change Management

The application of a structured process and set of tools for leading people through organizational changes.

The UCPath Organizational Change Management (OCM) team includes communications, change management and training.

Composite Benefit Rates (CBR) Organizations and departments at UC Merced will be assessed an overall Composite Benefit Rate (CBR) covering most employer-paid fringe benefit costs within the University of California system. CBRs will be associated with a particular location, with up to 14 rates per location. The CBR is based on the salary and actual benefit expenses from the end of the prior fiscal year.
Contingent Worker (CWR)

Individuals engaged by the University of California on a non-permanent basis to complete a specific function or task who do NOT have an employee relationship with UCM and do NOT receive remuneration through UCPath.

  • Not an employee
  • Has relationship with university, department/division and/or employee
  • Volunteers
  • Position is counted toward head count/layoff
Earnings Code (Earn Code) Components of compensation used by UCPath Payroll to calculate gross pay.
Enterprise Systems Renewal (ESR) Multi-year initiative program with focus on optimization of core business and administrative practices as well as delivery of new systems that will effectively meet the needs of the university.
Fail Labor Standars Act (FLSA) The Fair Labor Standards Act defines various labor regulations regarding employment, including minimum wages and requirements for overtime pay. In UCPath, employees may have only one FLSA status (Exempt or Non-Exempt) even if they have multiple jobs.
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) The percentage of full-time a worker should normally work in a job. UCPath calculates FTE based on the scheduled standard hours entered for the employee divided by full-time standard hours.
Human Capital Management (HCM) A comprehensive software system for managing HR processes. For UCPath the HCM is PeopleSoft.
Initiator (Transactor) Role for approval workflow assigned to the individual who initiates transactions in UCPath.
Job Earnings Distribution (JED) The process in which a location distributes earnings by earn codes on the job record by percentage or amount.
Job/Job Record The assignment an individual is hired to perform. The job contains information unique to the employee such as step, compensation rate, multiple components of pay (e.g. off-scale). The job is tied to a particular position and inherits certain attributes of the position.
Job Code Used to define job titles and related classifications. This includes job families, FLSA, compensation rate ranges, steps and Equal Employment Opportunity compliance categories. This was known as the Title Code in the historical PPS system.
Life Event A change in the status of the employee due to birth of a child, death of a spouse, marriage or divorce.
Location

A University of California campus and its associated medical center, if applicable. For example, UC Merced (UCM) or Merced Campus (MECMP).

UCPath locations are:

  • Berkeley
  • Davis
  • Irvine
  • Merced
  • Riverside
  • San Diego
  • Santa Barbara
  • Santa Cruz
  • UCLA
  • UCSF
  • UC Office of the President (UCOP)
  • Agricultural & Natural Resources (ANR)
  • ASUCLA (Associated Students of UCLA)
  • Hastings School of Law
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Manager Self-Serve (MSS) Managers who have approval access, are able to see relevant work-related information about their direct reports in one place (Manager Dashboard).
Multiple Components of Pay (MCOP) Apply to any employee whose total monthly salary has more than one earn code level that contributes to their total monthly salary. Not currently used at UC Merced.
Off-Cycle Pay Any payment not paid on the employee’s regular “on-cycle” (monthly or biweekly). This can be necessary when employees miss a significant amount of pay (e.g., missed time card, incorrect hours). Also know as Off-Cycle check.
Pay Cards An option for employees not enrolled in direct deposit. Pay cards are loaded with a payroll balance on payday. Employees can either cash them out for the balance or spend down the balance. Also know as earnings statements.
PayPath A custom component designed to streamline updates to employee data in UCPath. It is used to make data changes ONLY to positions that have an active incumbent.
Person of Interest (POI)

Someone who is in UCPath and needs access to UCPath as a potenatil hire or potential external resource, but is not an employee and has no relationship with department/division and/or employee.

Position Control (PCN) System of tracking information based on positions rather than employees. Creates a framework of positions for all the jobs within UCPath without regards to whether there is an incumbent in a specific job or not.
Position Management A module in UCPath that defines and standardizes information for approved positions with or without an incumbent. Attributes include home department, job code, standard hours, FTE, union affiliation, maximum headcount, reporting relationship, etc. In most cases, there will be one position for each employee. However, multiple incumbents with the same position attributes may be assigned the same position. Position Management is useful for recruitment, succession planning, monitoring turnover, etc.
Position Pools Position pools allow locations to group similarly funded work study positions.
Reports To

Each position in UCPath reports to another position. The Reports To field holds the position number of the supervisor/department chair to whom the position reports. The Reports To position (supervisor/department chair) is able to view personal information for their direct reports using Manager Self-Service functionality.

Service Partnership Agreement (SPA) Outline the roles and responsibilities for both the UCPath Center and the locations/partners as it relates to UCPath.
Single Sign-On (SSO) Employees use UC Merced's secure login to access UCPath.
Subject Matter Expert (SME) An expert or authority in a particular area or topic. Pronounced smee.
Supplement A defined contribution plan available to selected employees participating in the Defined Benefit plan who are subject to a new, lower covered compensation limit (the 2016 CCLs) associated with the defined benefit plan.
Tracker Tracker is an electronic solution adopted by all UC campuses to create and track I-9 forms, E-Verify and immigration compliance.
UCPath (PeopleSpft, UCPath HCM) The critical business transformation program of the University of California. UCPath standardizes and streamlines payroll and HR processes system-wide while centralizing certain HR, Academic Personnel and payroll transactional processes.
UCPath Center (UCPC) The UC system-wide shared services center in Riverside. UCPC consolidates routine transaction processing and employee support in the areas of payroll, benefits, absence management, compensation and workforce administration.
UCPath Center Employee Services Employee services provides assistance to UC faculty and staff via UCPath portal (cases), telephone, email, fax and mail.
UCPath Center Production Team Provides processing of absence management, benefit, payroll, reporting, records fulfillment and workforce administration transactions. Serves as an escalation point for employee services when additional research, follow-up and processing is required.
UCPath Inquiry An online request opened with UCPath Center by UC employees and managers to request help. Requester can track service requests until resolved by UCPath Center. Also know as a case, ticket or request.
UCPath Portal

Provides employees 24/7 online access to personal information from their desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

Employees are able to:

  • View personal job data
  • View personal payroll information
  • View vacation and sick leave balances
  • View earning statements
  • View W2 information
  • Sign up and/or update direct deposit
  • Update tax withholdings
  • Update certain personal employee information (name, address, emergency contact)
  • Enroll and/or update benefits and make life event changes

Employees are able to submit questions via case management, track requests, and look up answers in a knowledge base.

Aso know as employee self-service (ESS).

Workforce Administration (WFA) A module in UCPath used by the UC Location HR administrators at the UCPath Center to manage an employee’s lifecycle. Allows users to track and manage job related data, including managing pay, compensation, benefit eligibility programs, position data, employee data, payroll and HR status.