Assignments are also known as relocations, business trips, moves, or files. For an employee, one or more assignments can be created.
To create a new assignment, click
in the Relocations grid on the Employee Details page. You can also copy an existing assignment.
Note: The fields with an asterisk (*) before the field caption are required to have an entry.
The Assignment Details page displays:
The below section returns for an assignment record.
Record Type used to indicate the type of assignment which are Permanent Transfer, International Assignment or Business Traveller. Only options configured for the company will appear on the Relocation Details page. Section information will vary depending on the record type selected.
Quick information can also be viewed by clicking the drop-down button beside the employee's name. This will display either the Assignment Effective Date, Start Date, or Destination Start Date whichever is available on that sequence. Additionally, if there is more than one destination location, the destination start date will be based on the earliest start date where the status is not equal to canceled.
For the location, the city and country code, if available, will also be displayed. If there is more than one destination location, it will use the location of the earliest start date.
Details
This section can be named as Assignment Detail, Relocation Details or Move Details depending on company terminology set in system preference (RELOTERMPL). Below are description for each field:
Relocation System Number defaults to be auto generated. This can be changed to be input; however, each relocation/assignment must have a unique ID. You may enter “new” in this field and the system will auto generate a unique ID. To allow manual input please contact your Client Account Executive.
Inactive checkbox designates this assignment as inactive. When this box is ticked, this assignment will not show during employee/assignment search unless the Include Inactive Assignments checkbox is ticked. Many assignment related pages will be locked down (unable to be edited). Also, no processes can be performed on this assignment (i.e. entering a voucher or compensation accumulation). To update information or perform a process the checkbox will need to be un-ticked.
Project is only available if configured for the Company.
Relocation Type – this indicates what type of assignment (i.e. Short term, Expatriate, New Hire, and Internal, etc). The dropdown list is pre-populated with Short Term, Expatriate, and Localized; however, it can be changed by the User in the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration Tab.
Relocation Reason – this indicates why the employee is being relocated. The dropdown list is pre-populated with Transfer, New Hire and Non-Relocation; however, it can be changed by the User in the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration Tab.
Homeowner – used to indicate if employee owns a home.
Relocation Policy – the values available in the dropdown list are based on the relocation policies configured on the Assignment/Relocation Policies page within the Company Configuration on the Companies tab.
Assignment/Relocation Coordinator – the values available in the dropdown list is based on the Users assigned this role on the Resources page on the Configuration tab.
Accounting Coordinator – the values available in the dropdown list is based on the Users assigned this role on the Resources page on the Configuration tab.
Default Currency – the currency selected is defaulted in many different pages in the system. A couple of examples are voucher and expense amounts in the expense module and base salary in the compensation module. This field can be defaulted for all assignments by selecting the appropriate currency in the Default Currency field on the Company Details page.
Cost Currency Currency – the currency selected is defaulted in many different pages in the system. This field can be defaulted for all assignments by selecting the appropriate currency in the Cost Currency field on the Company Details page.
Relocation Effective Date – is the starting date of the relocation/assignment.
Services Authorized Date – displays the first date services were authorized. For information on authorizing services see How to Authorize Services section later in this manual.
Start Date – may be used to track another start date (in addition to the Effective Date) related to the relocation/assignment if your business processes so require.
Benefits Expiration Date – this is the scheduled end date of the relocation. It is generally used to specify when the employee is no longer eligible for the policy benefits.
Group Name– allows you to indicate if this assignment is associated with a group move
Billing Start Date – available to track when the billing for this assignment will begin.
Billing End Date – available to track when the billing for this assignment will end.
Do Not Send Survey checkbox – when ticked, this assignment will be excluded from survey batches.
Company Information
Company information can be stored in the assignment screen for both from and to location. This includes up to 4 segments can be defined per company (see Setting Up a New Client for further information on defining the segments). If your segments are configured as Hierarchical, as you select each segment from the dropdown list that will determine the next level’s options.
Billing details can be tracked:
Active Billing – this determines if the To or From Location will be used for billing purposes.
Billing Entity – Only available if configured for the Company.
Additional Resources
Additional resources section displays up to thirty resources to be used for specialized resource needs. The section does not show when all associated resource fields are hidden. The data for resources available within a given resource is maintained on the resources page.
Status
Status can be tracked depending on how you manage your records. The below fields are available to control the record's status.
Relocation Status – is a display field that updates when certain events occur. For example, status starts as Unknown, but when assignment details are saved the status updates to Active. If the Inactive checkbox is ticked, the status will display Inactive.
On Hold Until – indicates the assignment is on hold until the date indicated. Note the Relocation Status field will update to On Hold.
On Hold Reason – indicates if directed by client/company or by employee.
Cancel Date – indicates the assignment has been canceled and on what date. Note the Relocation Status field will update to Canceled.
Cancel Reason – this indicates why the assignment has been cancelled. The dropdown list is pre-populated with Employee Cancelled, Leave of Absence and Separation; however, it can be changed by the User in the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration tab.
Complete Date – indicates the assignment is completed and on what date. Note the Relocation Status field will update to Complete.
Archive Date – indicates the assignment is completed and on what date. Note the Relocation Status field will update to Archived.
Contacts
Relocation Contacts can be used to track key contacts for the record. Click the “+” icon to add contacts. The list of Contact Types can be maintained on the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration tab.
Note, Phone number validation exists for phone number fields on this page to ensure phone numbers have been entered based on the suggested format, +123 123456789.
If a number does not meet the requirements a warning will be shown next to those fields as well as a message at the top of the page.
This will not prevent contact details from savings on the page and is just a suggestion to fix those fields to match the format. Following the suggested format makes it more likely that these phone numbers are clickable on mobile devices.
Location Information
From Country – indicates the country the assignee is coming from. This field can be defaulted for all assignments by selecting the appropriate country in the Default Country field on the Company Details page.
To Country – indicates the country the assignee is going to. This field can be defaulted for all assignments by selecting the appropriate country in the Default Country field on the Company Details page.
From State/Providence – for many countries some state/providences are preloaded and available in the dropdown list. Users can adjusted the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab.
To State/Providence – for many countries some state/providences are preloaded and available in the dropdown list. Users can adjusted the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab.
(From) Select City – no cities are preloaded in the dropdown list. Users can adjusted the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab. Note City can be freeform entered in the From City filed.
(To) Select City – no cities are preloaded in the dropdown list. Users can adjusted the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab. Note City can be freeform entered in the To City filed.
From City - allows freeform entry of City name.
To City - allows freeform entry of City name.
From Currency – will default to the base currency for the From Country selected. You can either type in the currency code or use the find button to launch the Select Currency search page. This is used as the From or Home currency in currency conversion such as Expense Reports and Cost Estimates.
To Currency will default to the base currency for the To Country selected. You can either type in the currency code or use the find button to launch the Select Currency search page. This is used as the To or Host currency in currency conversion such as Expense Reports and Cost Estimates.
To Payroll System is a dropdown list containing the active payroll systems defined for the company.
Home Tax Filing Status is a dropdown list where the filing status of the assignee can be chosen based on their preference and their home country. Values for this field might include but are not limited to Single, Married, Head of Household, etc. The value chosen here will be reflected on cost estimates and compensation calculations that are processed for the assignment.
Host Tax Filing Status is a dropdown list where the filing status of the assignee can be chosen based on their preference and their host country. Values for this field might include but are not limited to Single, Married, Head of Household, etc. The value chosen here will be reflected on cost estimates and compensation calculations that are processed for the assignment.
Note that the Home and Host Tax Filing Status fields will only appear in the Assignment screen if the country allows different filing statuses and the following are made visible through the Data Dictionary Override screen:
ASSIGNMENT_TAX_INPUT_OVERRIDE!HOME_TAX_FILING_STATUS
ASSIGNMENT_TAX_INPUT_OVERRIDE!HOST_TAX_FILING_STATUS
If assignment is a Frontier Worker, tick the Frontier Worker. Note, you can check configuring frontier worker for additional steps in enabling the field. These will show the Frontier related fields:
From Work Country indicates the employee's work country prior to assignment. This country can be defaulted for all assignments by selecting the appropriate country in the Default Country field on the Company Details page.
From Work State/Province is the field primarily used for Cantons if Switzerland is the Work Country. Cantons may be preloaded and available in the dropdown list. Users can adjust the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab.
From Work City is the field for cities. If no cities are preloaded in the dropdown list, users can adjust the contents of the dropdown list on the Countries page on the Configuration tab. Note City can be entered freeform in the From City field
From Work Currency will default to the base currency for the From Work Country selected. You can either type in the currency code or use the find button to launch the Select Currency search page. This is used as the From or Home currency in currency conversion such as Expense Reports and Cost Estimates.
Use As Default From Currency is selected to use the work country’s base currency as the home country currency in Compensation Calculation or Cost Estimates calculations, i.e. only one home country currency is available.
Work Time Split is a checkbox that enables the following fields if the record type is “International Assignment”. These can be utilised to define the Home & Host work percentage which is used for Cost Estimates. Note, that fields also appear on the Relocation step of the Authorization wizard
Work Time In Home Country
Work Time In Host Country
Employee Identifier
These are fields available to track various ID that the client and/or client payroll provider utilize. Some field names may be adjusted please contact your Client Account Executive for assistance.
Special Security Groups
To assign one or more special security groups click
and add the group as appropriate. Special security groups are defined on the Special Security Group page within the Company Configuration menu section on the Companies tab. Users must have access to the Special Security Group in order to see any assignments designated with the group.
Access Groups
This section allows you to allocate access groups for the assignment so that users with the same access group will be able to view the assignment. Clicking on the
button will show a list of access group to select from. An assignment can have more than one access group identified. This can provide access to specific groups of users.
Position Information
This contains data relating to the position information for this assignment. The Salary Grade dropdown lists are pre-loaded with values; however, these can be changed by the User in the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration Tab.
International Assignment
When the record type is International Assignment, the International Assignment Details section displays between the Relocation Status and Relocation Contacts sections:
From Employee Identifiers will also be available.
Descriptions for additional fields when the assignment is <International Assignment>:
International Assignment Details – provide fields to store various data relating specifically to an international assignment. This includes Home Country Departure Date, Host Country Arrival Date, Scheduled End Date, Extended End Date, Actual End Date, Assignment Length, and Relocation Phase.
Dual Career Move – Indicate if the assignment is part of a Dual Career Move, where partners are both on assignment in the same location and should be linked in the system to better manage benefits.
Dual Career Type – Available when Dual Career Move is ticked. Indicate whether the assignment is the Leading or Trailing assignment in the Dual Career Move.
Linked Assignment ID – Available when Dual Career Move is ticked. Enter the assignment ID of the corresponding dual career assignment. Entering an assignment ID in this field will automatically set the corresponding information about the Dual Career Move into the linked assignment record. In addition, a hyperlink will appear at the top of the both of the assignment records for easy navigation between the two assignments. A hyperlink is also added to the Cost Estimate, Compensation Calculation, and Compensation Worksheet pages, when available for each record.
Location Information – a From Payroll System field is added and functions the same as the To Payroll System field described above. In addition, two Primary System checkbox fields are added. Tick the appropriate box (only one) to indicate which is the primary payroll system.
Employee Identifiers – To fields are added for each employee identifier for an international Assignment.
Extensions – When the planned assignment end date changes, the assignment details with the new planned (extended) end date can be sent for approval. Documents, such as a cost estimate, may also be attached. See the Assignment Extensions User Manual for more details.
Business Traveler
If the assignment is for a <Business Traveler>, the page will displays significantly fewer fields. For example, there is only one set each for Company Information, Employee Identifier, and Position Information fields, and some of the fields within the Relocation Details section have been removed. However, there is one additional field within the Relocation Status section – Travel Phase. Also, a Destinations section is available to track one to many destinations for the business trip.
Descriptions for additional fields when the record type is Business Traveler:
Travel Phase – where the record is in the business process. The drop down list is pre-populated with Pending Clarification; Pending Immigration and Tax; Pending Tax, Cleared Immigration; Pending Immigration, Cleared Tax; and Clear for Travel. The list can be changed by the user in the Lookup Maintenance page on the Configuration tab.
The Destinations section provides fields to store each destination for the Business Traveler’s trip.
Each Destination record can be created with Country, State/Province, City, Start Date and End Date information. Custom fields can also be added to this page.
The Location column in the Destinations grid displays the City, State/Province and Country of each Destination record.
The Travel Dates column in the Destinations grid displays the Start Date and End Date of each Destination record.
The records will be sorted by date with oldest date at the top of this list and most recent date at the bottom of this list.