Summary

The COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) process is used to adjust the minimum and maximum step amount on grades as well as modify the step an employee belongs to. A COLA batch cannot be processed while a Pay Adjustments batch is open. COLA increases can be processed either by selected labor grades or globally.

The COLA process will not automatically change the grade step that an employee is assigned to, but the grade step an employee is attached to can be changed manually in the Edit Employee COLA step.

When there is an open batch in the COLA process, the User grade and step toggle and Grade and Step fields on the Finance tab of the Employee Maintenance window (PR> Maintenance> Employee> Open an employee> Finance tab) in the Payroll module will be disabled..

Step by Step

1     Open or create a COLA batch.

• Select the COLA palette in HR> COLA. This will expand the COLA palette and display the steps of the batch process.
• Modify an existing batch or create a new COLA batch.
  • Select a batch number from the drop-down menu at the top of the COLA palette to select an existing batch.
  • Select New from the COLA batch number drop-down menu to create a new batch. This will open the New Batch window.
    • The Batch Month and Batch Year of the COLA batch is used for reference only and is not necessarily the fiscal month and year the transactions in the batch will be posted to.
• Click the Generate icon to save the batch.

2     Select the grades to apply the COLA increase to.

• Open the Select Grades/Cola window (HR> COLA> Select Grades).
• Click the Add icon to select all grades to be increased. The selected grades do not have to have the same percentage increase so all COLA increases can be processed in one batch.
• Select an Effective Date for the increases to take effect.
• Check the Update Salary amount for Hourly employees toggle if you would like to calculate salary values for any hourly employees included in the batch.
• In the Increase Type column, select either Percentage or Flat.
• Enter the appropriate increase in the Increase Amount column.
• Click the Confirm icon when complete.

3     Test for COLA batch exceptions.

• Open the Exceptions window (HR> COLA> Exceptions).
• The Exceptions window will display any exceptions that resulted from the batch generate step.
• If the generate step did not produce any exceptions, an information window will appear.

4     Edit the employee Grade/Step information.

• Open the Edit Grade/Step window (HR> COLA> Edit Grade/Step).
• The Edit Grade/Steps window will display the COLA increase applied to the minimum and maximum step amount of the grades selected during the select grade process.
• The New Amount column is editable which allows rounding to be adjusted when needed.
• Click the Save icon when complete.

5     Print the Grade/Step Proof List report.

• Open the Grade/Step Proof List report window (HR> COLA> Grade/Step Proof List).
• Check the Page break by Grade toggle to organize the report output by grade.
• The report will display the Grade, Steps, Current Amount, Proposed Amount and the Last COLA Date.
• Click the Print icon   to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report). 

6     Edit an employee's COLA.

• Open the Edit Employee COLA window (HR> COLA> Edit Employee COLA).
• The COLA process will not automatically change the grade/step that an employee is assigned to, but the grade/step an employee is attached to can be changed manually in the Edit Employee COLA step. If you modify the step an employee is attached to, their annual wages must fall between the new step minimum and maximum.
• Using the Edit Employee COLA window, specific employees can be adjusted if needed. Changes here will overwrite the changes to the employee only, not the master grade/step tables.
• The COLA process will not change an employee’s step unless a new step is entered.
• You can modify the values in the New Step and Proposed Amount fields.
• Click the Save icon when complete.

7     Print the Employee Proof List report.

• Open the Employee Proof List window (HR> COLA> Employee Proof List).
• Specify how the report will be displayed with the Sort By, Page Break and SSN Display drop-down menus.
• The report will display the Employee Number, Employee Name, Social Security Number, Last COLA date, Grade, Current Step, Proposed Step, Current Amount and Proposed Amount.
• Click the Print icon   to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

8     Print the COLA forms. This is an optional step.

• Open the Print Forms window (HR> COLA> Print Forms).
• Click the Department Code field label to select the department that you would like to generate forms for.
• Specify how the forms will be organized with the Sort drop-down menu.
• Click the Print icon   to process the report immediately or enter a date and time in the field next to the Print icon to schedule the report to generate at a later time. You can view the progress of the report on the Job Viewer window (SS> Utilities> Show Scheduled Jobs).
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Print Preview to preview the report before printing.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet as unformatted data.
  • Click the Print icon drop-down menu and select Excel (Formatted) to export the report data to an Excel spreadsheet that includes much of the Springbrook formatting found on the printed version of the report.
  • Once the report is generated, you can also display the report using the View Reports window (SS> Utilities> View Report).

9     Generate the work flows. This is an optional step.

• The Generate Work Flows step applies if only specific employees are allowed to commit a COLA batch. For example, if you are a department clerk, but only the department head is allowed to actually commit a COLA batch, then run the Generate Work Flows step to notify the department head that a COLA batch is ready to be committed. If you do not use work flows, skip to the Commit step and commit the batch.
• Select Generate Work Flows on the palette. This will open an information window asking you to confirm your selection. Press ENTER or click the OK button to generate the work flows. This will create a job on the Jobs Viewer window. Once the job is complete, the work flow will be created.
• Work flows are created and maintained on the Work Flow Maintenance window (SS> Work Flow> Work Flow Templates). Click here for information on Work Flows.

10     Review the work flows. This step is only required when using work flows.

• The Review Work Flows step is used to view the COLA batch before it is committed and is used in conjunction with the Generate Work Flows step. For example, a department clerk runs the Generate Work Flows step to notify the department head that the COLA batch is ready to be approved. The department head receives an email that the batch is ready to be committed, so they review the COLA proof lists and then commit the batch.
• Open the Review Work Flows window to review the COLA batch (HR> COLA> Review Work Flows).
• The Review Work Flows window displays the work flow generated by the Generate Work Flows step (HR> COLA> Generate Work Flow).
• The Status column displays the status of the work flow. If the work flow is waiting to be approved, the Status will be New.
• The Author column displays the department clerk that created the work flow (this is the employee that ran the Generate Work Flows step). If the COLA batch is rejected, this is the employee that will receive the notification email that the batch has been rejected.
• The type of work flow generated during the Generate Work Flows step determines what needs to be done to the COLA batch before it can be committed.
  • If the work flow is set up as an action step on your role (SS> Work Flow> Work Flow Templates), you will have to approve or reject the COLA batch before it can be committed.
  • If the work flow is set up as an information step on your role (SS> Work Flow> Work Flow Templates), the commit step will be enabled and the batch will be ready to commit. When the work flow is set up as an information step, skip the Review Work Flows step and commit the COLA batch.
• If you have to approve or reject the COLA batch, highlight the work flow in the Review Work Flows window and press ENTER. This will open the specified COLA reports for approval.

11     Commit the COLA batch.

• The system will confirm the Commit one time. Choose OK to complete or Cancel to stop.
• Choose OK and the grade/step tables will be updated with the new rates. The employee’s rates on the financial tab and on the default time cards will also be updated with the new rate.
• If the amount matches the old salary when the default timecards are updated, the default timecard amount will be populated with the new salary amount rather than the hourly rate multiplied by the hours.