Defining the Primary Job

This chapter provides overviews of multiple jobs and the primary job selection and discusses how to:

Control the primary record selection.
Attach active and inactive definitions to a plan alias.
Override the primary job selection.

Understanding Multiple Jobs

Pension Administration provides the option to perform benefit calculations for employees with multiple concurrent jobs. The multiple jobs functionality adds processing time, and you choose whether to run it.

Most of the documentation in this book is applicable to both single-job and multiple-job processing. Documentation that applies only to multiple jobs is designated by headings containing the words “Multiple Jobs”—for example, “Multiple Jobs Considerations for Consolidating Hours.”

Understanding the Primary Job Selection

A primary job is the job that aliases use to get information. When an alias needs to be resolved, the primary job record is used. For example, if you set up an alias that references an employee’s monthly rate of pay, the alias returns the primary job record’s monthly rate of pay.

In a single job environment, the primary job is the only job. However, for multiple jobs, the system must determine which job is the primary one. It does this based on when an employee is active and which jobs enable the employee to be eligible for a plan.

When setting up the system for calculation, you can accept the primary job record that the system selects, or override that selection with another job record.

In most cases, the system chooses the correct primary record. However, in some instances, that record may not be appropriate for your company’s needs. In these situations, you need to override the primary job selection.

The system selects an employee's primary job for a particular time period by searching for records in the following sequence, then choosing the lowest-numbered qualifying record.

Overrides: The system first looks for any overrides you entered for the employee. If it finds one, it accepts the override as the primary job record for the period.
Eligible active: If there are no overrides for the period, the system looks for an eligible active job. If it finds one, it accepts it as the primary job record for the period.
Eligible inactive: If there are no overrides and eligible active jobs, the system looks for an eligible inactive job. If it finds one, it accepts it as the primary job record for the period.
Ineligible active: If an ineligible inactive job is available, the system searches for any active job record that is not eligible for the plan.
Ineligible inactive: If no ineligible active jobs are available, the system selects an ineligible inactive job.

If the system finds more than one of a record type, it selects the lowest-numbered record as the primary job record.

Controlling the Primary Record Selection

To set up active and inactive job definitions, use the Active/Inactive Jobs (PA_ACTIVE_JOBS) component. This section provides an overview of the primary record selection, lists the page used to set up active and inactive job definitions, and discusses how to set up active and inactive job definitions.

Understanding the Primary Record Selection

As explained in the previous section, the system uses a job's active or inactive status in selecting the primary job. You determine what makes a job active or inactive by maintaining definitions of the action and reason categories that activate or inactivate job records. PeopleSoft delivers two action and reason categories, Active and Inactive, that serve as the default active and inactive definitions for a plan.

To modify the active and inactive definitions, you can change one of the delivered categories or create your own.

Page Used to Set Up Active and Inactive Job Definitions

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Active Inactive Job	PA_ACTIVE_JOB_RULE	Set Up HRMS, Product Related, Pension, Status Rules, Active/Inactive Jobs, Active Inactive Job	Set up and modify definitions of active and inactive jobs.

Setting Up Active and Inactive Job Definitions

Access the Active Inactive Job page.

Definition

Enter the name for the active or inactive definition set.

Active Inactive Category

Select the ACTIVE or INACTIVE category. PeopleSoft created these categories to contain common actions that activate or inactivate a job. The status you select in the Active/Inactive field determines whether this category activates or inactivates a job.

For example, in the page illustrated, the category ACTIVE makes a job active, and the categoryINACTIVE makes a job inactive.

You can modify the delivered ACTIVE and INACTIVE categories or create new categories—for example, ACTIVE2 and INACTIVE2.

Note. If you modify the ACTIVE or INACTIVE category, you don’t need to account for all the actions and reasons. When the system determines the active or inactive status, it looks only for the actions and reasons that affect job status; if it finds any others, it ignores them.

Attaching Active and Inactive Definitions to a Plan

After you create a set of active and inactive job definitions on the Active Inactive page, you attach it to a pension plan on the Plan Aliases page. In the prompt box for the Active/Inactive job definition field, select the definition name you created on the Active Inactive page.

Overriding the Primary Job Selection

To manually select a primary job record, use the Override Primary Job (PA_JOB_OVERIDE) component . This section provides an overview of manual primary job record selection, lists the page used to manually select a primary job record, and discusses how to manually select a primary job record.

Understanding Manual Primary Job Record Selection

If you do not want to use the primary job record that the system selects, you can specify a different record. You do this on the Primary Override page.

Page Used To Manually Select a Primary Job Record

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Primary Override	PA_PRIMJOB_OVRD	Pension, Pension Information, Override Primary Job, Primary Override	Manually select a job record as primary, overriding the record selected by the system.

Manually Selecting a Primary Job Record

Access the Primary Override page.

Empl Rcd Nbr (employee record number)

Indicate the number of the primary job record.

Start Primary

Select this option to override the system-designated primary job record and designate another record as primary. This automatically removes the primary status from any other existing record.

Empl Rcd Nbr (employee record number)	Indicate the number of the primary job record.
Start Primary	Select this option to override the system-designated primary job record and designate another record as primary. This automatically removes the primary status from any other existing record.