With the introduction of Your Employee Self Service (YESS), the Human Resources Department (HR) at the College has given faculty, staff and student employees the ability to check their paychecks from virtually anywhere.
"Everyone who gets a paycheck has the ability to use this system," Pete Camp, HR business analyst, said.
Launched this fall, YESS is an online module of the Oracle HR and payroll system the College implemented in October 2003.
It allows users to review current and past employment information, pay statements, compensations history, W-2 tax status, direct deposit account information, original hire date, benefit information and voluntary deductions.
Users can also view and update personal information, such as name, home address, e-mail address, emergency contacts, phone numbers, social security number, ethnicity and education level.
"All the updates are immediate ... when you log in (to YESS) you are actually in the HR database," Camp said.
YESS saves employees the paperwork and time traditionally needed to process and update such information.
Users also have the ability to make updates in advance by inputting a date on which to make the changes effective.
"When people begin working here, we ask for emergency contacts, people who have been working here for over 20 years don't think to update their emergency contacts," Camp said. "People go through divorces or move locations and our contacts are no longer correct."
The YESS system also serves as a double check between HR, payroll and the users.
"It sounds good, but how secure is it?" Iris Cedeno, junior biology major and Information Desk Assistant at Brower Student Center, said. Cedeno is not a YESS user.
The College assures a high level of security in the system. "We worked extensively with IT (Information Technology) to meet all campus security guidelines," Camp said.
The network has a high level of encryption and is password protected to verify for valid users. Accordingly, passwords will become locked if a non-user attempts to access anyone's data.
"It's similar to online banking," Camp said. "We have had no security leaks thus far."
Another feature of YESS is direct deposit, which saves employees the trip to payroll by depositing paychecks directly into their bank account.
"With self-service you would be able to review the amount of your paycheck immediately and begin to use the money right away," Camp said. "You do not have to worry about lost checks or going to the bank to deposit or cash your check."
Direct deposit, and the ending of paychecks in print form, also saves the College money.
"One of the benefits from a financial standpoint is that, in the future, payroll will discontinue the printing of the advice statement which will result in a savings of $10,000 annually," Camp said.
The primary users of YESS are faculty and staff. According to Camp, the College employs 1,200 to 1,500 students.
"If those students enrolled in direct deposit, we wouldn't have to send up to 1,500 paychecks by mail at the end of the year and that cost alone would save the College a large sum of money," Camp said.
Lisa Williams, sophomore journalism major, works at the Access Services desk in the New Library and received the campus-wide e-mail about YESS.
"This sounds way easier than having to go to the bank," Williams said. "I'd much rather view my paycheck from my room."
For more information about YESS, HR has posted online tutorials accessible through the YESS icon next to the WebMail, SOCS, TESS and ARTIE icons in the bottom right corner of the College's Web site.
