Separations Checklist

Separation actions are personnel actions that remove employees from the rolls of the Agency due to retirement, resignation, termination, or death. Following are the necessary actions to successfully separate an employee in the National Finance Center (NFC) Payroll/Personnel System (PPS):

Action	Entry System	Rules	IRIS Screen Verification
Process the separation Nature of Action Code (NOAC).	EmpowHR or Web-based Entry, Processing, Inquiry, and Correction System (EPIC Web), or the Agency's Front-End System Interface (FESI)	In accordance with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Guide to Processing Personnel Actions (GPPA).	Information/Research Inquiry System (IRIS) Program IR101, Salary Data, IRIS Program IR122, SF-50B Data Elements
Submit a final Time and Attendance (T&A) Report.	Agency’s T&A Solution	Manager/Supervisor/Timekeeper notified to code T&A as final. The final T&A flag must be set to Y. Note: The end date on the T&A must match the effective date on the separation personnel action.	IRIS Program IR132, Separation Information
Complete a T&A leave audit and update leave balances as needed.	Agency’s T&A Solution Time Inquiry - Leave Update System (TINQ)	All leave balances are verified and final.	IRIS Program IR132, IRIS Program IR133, Separated Leave IRIS Program IR136, Annual/Sick Leave IRIS Program IR138, Other Leave IRIS Program IR139, Compensatory Leave & Rate IRIS Program IR140, Non Pay Leave
Submit a request to establish a debt when the employee has a negative leave balance.	Web-based Special Payroll Processing System (SPPS Web) Administrative Billings and Collections System (ABCO)	The debt balance is automatically collected from any subsequent payments due the employee (e.g., final salary, lump-sum payments). The employee’s retirement account can be levied against for settlement of the debt. All receipt account balances must be equal to zero.	IRIS Program IR114, Receipt Accounts
Submit a request to establish a debt when an employee has an unmet obligation (service agreement) or indebtedness due to overpayments, travel, unreturned equipment, etc.	SPPS Web ABCO	The debt balance is automatically collected from any subsequent payments due the employee (e.g., final salary, lump-sum payments). The employee’s retirement account can be levied against for settlement of the debt. All Receipt Account Balances must be equal to zero.	IRIS Program IR114
Process Document Type 054, Lump Sum Leave Payments, when the employee has annual and/or sick leave balances.	EmpowHR, EPIC Web, or the Agency's FESI	Annual Leave Current Balance must be equal to zero. Sick Leave Current Balance cannot have a negative balance. When there are no leave balances, the lump-sum documents are not processed.	IRIS Program IR136
Process Document Type 056, Compensatory Time Payments, when the employee has a compensatory time balance.	EmpowHR, EPIC Web, or the Agency's FESI	Total Compensatory Time Balance must be equal to zero. When there is no compensatory leave balance, the lump-sum document is not processed. In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) where applicable: Separating employees who are FLSA Non-Exempt (N) must be paid for any unused compensatory hours. Separating employees who are FLSA Exempt (E) are paid for any unused compensatory hours in accordance with Agency/sub-Agency policies. Separating employee, regardless of FLSA status, exempt or non-exempt status, must be paid for any unused Religious Compensatory Hours. Travel Compensatory Hours are not payable.	IRIS Program IR139
Submit a request to pay credit hours when the employee has a credit hour balance.	SPPS Web	Credit Hours Current Balance must be equal to zero. In accordance with OPM and Federal guidance, a maximum of 24 hours can be paid. When there is no leave balance, the lump-sum request is not processed.	IRIS Program IR138
Submit the appropriate document to resolve severance fund balances when the employee is receiving severance pay and severance pay has stopped but there is still a balance.	SPPS Web, EmpowHR, or EPIC Web	The Severance Fund Balance must be zero when the Severance Pay Code equals 3 (stop severance pay).	IRIS Program IR134, Severance Payment IRIS Program IR102, Dates & Misc Sal/Pers Data, second page
Restore annual leave to the donors when an employee is a leave recipient in a leave share program.	Agency’s T&A Solution TINQ	The Donated Leave Balance must be zero.	IRIS Program IR133, and IRIS Program IR136
Print, review, verify accuracy, sign, and scan/file the SF 1150, Record of Leave Data	Remote Forms Queuing System (RFQS)	Bi-Weekly Examination Analysis and Reporting System (BEAR) generates the SF 1150. Agencies are responsible for inclusion in the eOPF/OPF (Official Personnel Folder).	IRIS Program IR133, IRIS Program IR136, IRIS Program IR138, IRIS Program IR139, and IRIS Program IR140

PPS Separation Codes

The Separation Accession Type indicates employment terminated because of a normal separation or death and is found on IRIS Program IR101. Types are:

0 - Not Separated
1 - Regular
2 - Deceased
3 - Accession
9 - Transferred Employee

After the separation personnel action applies, PPS sets the Separation Accession Type to 1 or 2.

The Separation Record Status Code indicates the status of an employee’s separation and is found on IRIS Program IR132. The Separation Record Status Code values are:

0 - Not Separated
1 - Separation Commenced
2 - Separation in Process
3 - Separation Complete and over 90 days
4 - Separation Complete and over 120 days
5 - Separation Complete and over 180 days
6 - Separation Complete and Separation-Prep-Leave-Rcd-C (SF-1150) completed)
7 - BEAR drops the PPS master the next pay period

After all the balances for the employee are zero, BEAR moves the Separation Record Status Code to 7, moves the employee’s current PPS database record to history (Personnel History Information System), and erases the PPS database record. and erases the PPS database record.

The history database stores personnel history beginning in 1990 or the date NFC started payroll for the employee. An accession, a correction to the separation, a cancellation of the separation, a separation incentive, or a cash award may be processed when a separation action is the last action on the database.

To correct or cancel an action that has transferred to history, use EPIC History Correction or EmpowHR History Override. The separation action must be canceled prior to making corrections to actions with effective dates before the separation action. This is necessary to restore the salary record to the database. Corrections or new actions can be processed after the cancellation of the separation has applied and the salary record is reflected in IRIS Program IR101.

Reports

There are various reports available to ensure Agencies complete the separation process. Following is a sample of available reports:

BEAR56 Report, Listing of Employees on Rolls Separated, located in the Administrative Reports category of the Reporting Center (RPCT), lists separated employees still on the PPS database. Agency security officers must request permission for the authorized users to access the BEAR56 Report.
Final Timesheets Report is located in GovTA and lists employees who have separated from the organization.
CULP0151 Report of Separations - Monthly (W/O Sensitive Data), located in Payroll/Personnel Report Generator System, lists employees who have separated.
T&A Missing Personnel Actions, located in the RPCT, lists T&As with missing personnel actions that require an action to be taken by the personnel office.
Separation Report, located in the RPCT, lists separations for an organization and is updated biweekly.

Other reports specific to an Agency are found in the FOCUS libraries or Insight.