HCM 8.

9 Business Process Guide

Ben Admin Processing Guide

Last Revised: 06/10/08

DRAFT
HCM 8.9 Benefits Administration Processing Guide DRAFT
Business Process Guide

REVISION CONTROL

Document Title: HCM 8.9 Business Process Guide: Ben Admin Processing Guide

Author: Tammy Hines (CMS), Maria Sandoval (CMS)

File Reference: 43388254.doc

Date By Action Pages

03/09/07 Tammy Hines Draft of New Document All
02/12/08 Maria Sandoval, Review and modify draft All
06/10/08 Maria Sandoval Final Draft All

Review/Approval History

Date By Action Pages

Last Revised: 06/10/08

HCM 8.9 Benefits Administration Processing Guide DRAFT
Business Process Guide

Table of Contents
Page
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 1
Business Process Workflow Diagram.......................................................................................................... 2
Process Prerequisites/Assumptions............................................................................................................. 2
1.0 Fields used by Ben Admin - Ben Admin Triggers.............................................................................3
2.0 Ben Admin Triggers - Personal Information.......................................................................................5
2.1 Personal Information............................................................................................................... 5
3.0 Ben Admin Triggers - Job................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 Job Information....................................................................................................................... 6
4.0 Ben Admin Triggers - CSU Job........................................................................................................ 8
4.1 CSU Job.................................................................................................................................. 8
5.0 Ben Admin Triggers – Benefit Program Participation........................................................................9
5.1 Benefit Program Participation.................................................................................................. 9
6.0 Processing Overview....................................................................................................................... 10
7.0 Reviewing BAS Activity................................................................................................................... 10
7.1 BAS Activity........................................................................................................................... 11
8.0 Batch Processing............................................................................................................................. 12
9.0 Ben Admin Daily Tasks................................................................................................................... 13
10.0 Event Maintenance.......................................................................................................................... 17
10.1 Using the CSU Benefit Summary.......................................................................................... 17
10.2 Using the Processing Controls Update Pages......................................................................20
10.3 Event Coordination................................................................................................................ 21
10.4 Voiding Disconnected Events................................................................................................22
10.5 Reprocessing........................................................................................................................ 23
11.0 Transactional/ Processing Impacts.................................................................................................. 27
11.1 Use of Correction Mode........................................................................................................ 27
11.2 Impact of Entering Retroactive Transactions.........................................................................27
12.0 Manual Events Using BAS_ACTIVITY............................................................................................ 27
13.0 Troubleshooting............................................................................................................................... 27

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HCM 8.9 Benefits Administration Processing Guide DRAFT
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Introduction
The Ben Admin Processing Guide provides an overview of the Benefits Administration processing rules.
Benefits Administration allows you to manage your benefit enrollment activity through automated
processes. This guide is designed for staff in central Human Resources (HR) and Academic Personnel
offices that enter job data information into the Oracle/PeopleSoft application for HR. It will review key
processing fields used to determine eligibility.
There are four basic phases in the Benefits Administration process:
 Prepare Schedule - determine the population;
 Assign Program - determine benefit program eligibility
 Prepare Options - prepare enrollment options
 Validate and finalize - validate and load the elections to Base Benefits.
All data keyed into Personal and Job data, once saved, is used to determine benefits eligibility. Therefore,
data must be entered accurately the first time. As of the effective date of a new hire in the system, all
fields should be entered, including current local address, SSN and date of birth. Any omission of this data
will impact the timely enrollment of the employee into their benefits. When data is saved, a
BAS_ACTIVITY row is created which will be used in the automated benefits process.
NOTE:  Once a campus has implemented Benefits Administration, access to update the Base Benefits
tables manually should be restricted or eliminated.  This is due to the fact that Ben Admin will process
events and write the results to the Base Benefits tables.  In addition, Ben Admin processing tables stores
information related to the event processed.  If the Base Benefits tables are updated manually, this will
cause the Ben Admin processing tables to be out-of-sync and may create issues with other integrated
processes that rely on this information, i.e. SCO Interface process. 
As stated in the Ben Admin Implementation Guide, CMS only recommends that a campus allow the Base
Benefits tables to be updated manually for enrollments prior to the Ben Admin Start Date.  If a campus
has a need to update this Base Benefits tables manually they should LOG A HELP DESK TICKET and report
the issue to CMS. 

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HCM 8.9 Benefits Administration Processing Guide DRAFT
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Business Process Workflow Diagram

Benefits Administration Overview:

Benefits Administration Process Events

Ben Admin Conversion

Overview On Demand
Ben Admin
Event
COBOL Snap Shot
Processing Processing

Process Events
CSU Pre-
Processing

Schedule Assign Program Prepare Options Election Entry Validate & Finalized Finalize Enrolled CSU Printing A

CSU BAS Job

CSU Medical Form

Process Events Run ACES Interface
Health
 Event Status Update Benefits
 Review BAS Activity
Print CSU Batch
 Update Processing Controls
CSUBAS Job Medical Form
 Run Automated Event
 CSUBAS01.SQR
Processing


Vis
PSBARUN

io
 BAS003.SQR

n
O
 CSUBAS01.SQR Disability CSU SCO Dental

nl
y
 PSBARUN Benefits Form
 CSUBAS02.SQR
 CSUBAS06.SQR
 BAS003.SQR Print CSU Batch
 BAS008.SQR Dental Form
 BAS027.SAR
Life AD/D CSU Flex Cash Form
Benefits

Run SCO Interface

Ben Admin Process CSU PERS Dental
Nightly Job Form

Savings
Plans
CSU SCO Interface CSU SCO FERP
Inquiry Vision Deduction
CSU TSA Form

USA FSA
Benefits

Benefits Administration Visio located on CMS Website:

http://cms.calstate.edu/04_Applications/04C_HumanResources/HCM89_HR/CMS_04B_HR89_01C_Ben
Admin.asp

Process Prerequisites/Assumptions
Prerequisite/Assumption Detail
Ben Admin has been implemented Ben Admin is turned on the Installation Table and the Ben Admin Start date
has been set.

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1.0 Fields used by Ben Admin - Ben Admin Triggers

Many of the fields listed below affect eligibility or Ben Admin processing. Some of these fields may
trigger an update to BAS Activity after they are saved.
Record Field Description of Use
Personal Data Effective Date Many of the Event Rules are running off of the
date entered. Any date is okay to enter but note
the date as you process benefits and identify
your expected results.
Gender Gender
Birth Date Birth date is used to determine age limit
processing. It is required for proper assignment
of the Benefit Program.
Postal Code The Postal Code and State information is used
to determine eligibility based on geographic
location.
State The Postal Code and State information is used
to determine eligibility based on geographic
location.
Job Effective Date Many of the Event Rules are running off of the
date entered. Any date is okay to enter but note
the date as you process benefits and identify
your expected results.
Action/ Action Reason Action/Reason values translate to Benefits
actions. Each Action/Reason indicates what
type of action Ben Admin should take.
Expected End Date This field is used to determine if a temporary
employee meets the eligibility criteria for
duration. Elig Config 1 is updated to a “Y” (Yes)
or “N” (No).
Position In order for an employee to have an Enrollment
Worksheet generated, a position must be used.
Job Code Used to determine types of benefits available
and program eligibility.
Union Code Used to determine Benefit Program eligibility. It
auto populates when a position is entered. This
field should not be overridden.
FTE Used to determine Benefit eligibility. For
employees with one active job, the system will
look at FTE to determine if the minimum FTE
requirement has been met. For employees with
more than one active job, the system will
combine the FTE’s for all benefits-eligible jobs
and determine if the minimum FTE requirement
is met.

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Record Field Description of Use

Pay Group Used to determine program eligibility. It drives
benefits for AY employees who have a start date
prior to a pay period. For example, faculty who
have a start date in August, but don’t get paid
until September, will have a benefits effective
date of October 1. The Pay group value of
“ACD” is used to identify these employees who
use the Academic Year Pay Calendar.
Employee Type This is one of the factors used in looking at
multiple jobs to determine which job is primary.
CSU Job Empl Class Used to determine eligibility to Benefit Programs
and what types of benefits are available. FERP
and Rehired Annuitant are the only employee
classes that are used in the eligibility rules.
AY Duration of Appointment This value is used to determine if a temporary
employee meets the eligibility criteria for
duration. Elig Config 1 is updated to a “Y” (Yes)
or “N” (No).
Benefit Program Benefit Record Number All Benefits Eligible jobs should be assigned a
Participation Benefit Record Number of 0. Non-eligible jobs
should have a Benefit Record Number of 1.
This field is automatically populated on the Save
Benefits System This value will default to Benefits Administration.
Elig Config 1 This field is automatically populated after the
custom Ben Admin process is run. This field will
be set to a Y if the employee meets the duration
requirement, otherwise it will be set to N.

Elig Config 2 This is the employee’s job code. This field is

populated on the Save.
Benefit Program This value should initially be set to “NOB”.
(Default is set to “NOB” in Pay group). It will be
populated with the appropriate benefit program
after the Ben Admin process runs.

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2.0 Ben Admin Triggers - Personal Information

Displayed below are screen shots of the Personal Information fields, which are used by Ben Admin.

2.1 Personal Information

Navigation: Workforce Administration > Personal Information > Biographical > Modify a Person

Processing Steps Screen Shot

Effective Date
1. Many of the Event Rules are
running off of the date entered.
Note the date as you process
benefits and identify your
expected results.
Birth Date
2. This filed is used to
determine age limit processing.
It is required for proper
assignment of the Benefit
Program.
SSN
3. SSN

Gender
4. Gender

Postal Code
5. Postal Code is used to
determine eligibility based on
geographic location.
State
6. The State information is used to
determine eligibility based on
geographic location.

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3.0 Ben Admin Triggers - Job

Displayed below are screen shots of the Job fields, which are used by Ben Admin to determine eligibility.

3.1 Job Information

Navigation: Workforce Administration > Job Information > Job Data

Processing Steps Screen Shot

Effective Date = Benefits Event

Date
1. This date determines the
Benefits Event Date. Many of
the Event Rules use the date
entered. Note the date as you
process benefits and identify
your expected results.
Action/Action Reason
2. Action/Reason values
translate to Benefits actions.
Each Action/Reason indicates
what type of action Ben Admin
should take.
Action Reasons mapped to the
HIR event may automatically
process and enroll an employee
in Vision, Life AD&D or LTD
benefits, based on eligibility.).

Expected End Date

3. This field is used to
determine if a temporary
employee meets the eligibility
criteria for duration. Elig Config
1 is updated to a “Y” (Yes) or “N”
(No).
Position
4. In order for an employee to
have an Enrollment Worksheet
generated, a position must be
used.

Job Code
5. This field is used to determine
eligibility. This value is stored in
Elig Config 2.

Empl Class

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6. Empl Class used to

determine eligibility to Benefit
Programs and what types of
benefits are available. FERP
and Rehired Annuitant are the
only employee classes that are
used in the eligibility rules.

FTE
7. FTE used to determine
Benefit eligibility. For employees
with one active job, the system
will look at FTE to determine if
the minimum FTE requirement
has been met. For employees
with more than one active job,
the system will combine the
FTEs for all benefits-eligible jobs
and determine if the minimum
FTE requirement is met.
Union Code
8. This field is used to
determine eligibility. It auto
populates when a position is
entered. This field should not be
overridden.

Employee Type
9. Employee Type is one of the
factors used in looking at
multiple jobs to determine which
job is primary.

Pay Group
10. Pay Group used to determine
program eligibility. It drives
benefits for AY employees.

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4.0 Ben Admin Triggers - CSU Job

Displayed below is a screen shot of the custom CSU Job page, the field which is a Ben Admin trigger is
indicated.

4.1 CSU Job

Navigation: Workforce Administration > CSU Job

Processing Steps Screen Shot

Duration of Appointment
This value is used to
determine if a temporary
employee meets the eligibility
criteria for duration. Elig Config
1 is updated to a “Y” (Yes) or “N”
(No).

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5.0 Ben Admin Triggers – Benefit Program Participation

Displayed below are screen shots of the Benefit Program fields used by Ben Admin.

5.1 Benefit Program Participation

Navigation: Workforce Administration > Benefit Program Participation

Processing Steps Screen Shot

Benefit Record Number.

1. All Benefits Eligible jobs
should be assigned a Benefit
Record Number of 0. Non-
eligible jobs should have a
Benefit Record Number of 1.
This field is automatically
populated on the Save

Benefit System
2. This value will default to
Benefits Administration.

Eligibility Config 1
3. This field is automatically
populated after the custom Ben
Admin process is run. This field
will be set to a Y if the employee
meets the duration requirement,
otherwise it will be set to N.
Eligibility Config 2
4. This is the employee’s job
code. This field is populated on
the Save.

Benefit Program Effective Date

5. This date must match the
date on job if the Action is Hire.
This date is used to determine
when the employee is eligible for
a particular benefit program. It is
updated as appropriate when the
Ben Admin process runs.

Benefit Program
6. This value should initially be
set to “NOB”. (Default is set to
“NOB” in Pay group). It will be
populated with the appropriate
benefit program after the Ben
Admin process runs.

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6.0 Processing Overview

Benefits Administration manages benefit enrollment activity through automated processes. This guide is
designed for staff in central benefits offices. It focuses on the automated processes that run nightly, those
processes that must be handled manually, and the management of the results produced. There are five
basic phases in the Benefits Administration process: determine the population; determine benefit
program eligibility; prepare enrollment options; validate and load the elections to Base Benefits and
create enrollment worksheets to be sent to eligible employees. Each phase will require analysis and
intervention to move events through the process until finalized.
The typical business process will include the following steps:
1. Data entered or changed in Personal and Job data fields will create benefit activities to be
processed by the Ben Admin COBOL process.
2. The Benefits Administration System (BAS) Activity table can be reviewed prior to the process
running to anticipate the expected outcome.
3. The Ben Admin COBOL process will run nightly and can be run as needed during the day -
review and analyze the results of the nightly batch process. This review will include resolution
of processing errors and coordinating events that are flagged by the process as needing review.
4. Enrollment Worksheets can be created as required and sent to employees.
5. Benefits Office staff will process manual events as needed which include health and dental
enrollments, TSA elections, Flexible Spending Accounts and Family Status Changes that affect
benefits.

7.0 Reviewing BAS Activity

When data is keyed into Personal and Job Data the action is written to the BAS activity table. The BAS
Activity page displays the unprocessed events that will be processed by Benefits Administration. Before
running the Benefits Administration process, use the BAS Activity page to:
 Review the unprocessed activities that have been triggered for employees.
 Action reasons reflected in job are classified for benefits purposes by associating an Event Class
to each action reason. The event class is displayed in BAS Activity. The values relate to the type
of benefit activity the action should cause.
•HIR: These actions will create hire benefit actions. (Modified for CSU business needs;
automatic enrollment in Life AD & D, LTD and vision).
•MSC: These actions are typically miscellaneous transactions that do not typically affect
benefits. These benefit events will most likely cause no change to benefit options and/or
eligibility.
•TER: These actions will create termination benefit actions. All enrollments will be
terminated due to loss of eligibility if eligibility and employment has ended.
•ACT: These actions are typically transactions that may have affected benefits. For
example, this would include changes to duration, time base, or union code.
•LVE: These actions are assigned to unpaid leave of absence and disability leave actions.
Typically benefits in PeopleSoft will not be affected unless eligibility changes. However,
the benefits office may need to do additional benefits analysis outside the system.
 Insert manual events for Event Maintenance processing that can be picked up during the nightly
process. Use the BAS Activity page to insert manual events to be processed through On Demand
processing as described later in this document.

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 Delete unprocessed activities—a capability used on a very exceptional basis. It may become
useful to delete certain transactions prior to processing. For example, if a person’s hire date is
corrected on the same day it is entered the incorrect transaction can be deleted to avoid a
disconnected event.
The Business Process guide for reviewing BAS Activity is located on the CMS Website at:
http://cms.calstate.edu/T2hr89bp.asp

7.1 BAS Activity

Navigation: Benefits > Manage Automated Enrollment > Events > Review BAS Activity

Processing Steps Screen Shot

Benefit Record Number.

1. All Benefits Eligible jobs
should be assigned a Benefit
Record Number of 0. Non-
eligible jobs should have a
Benefit Record Number of 1.
This field is automatically
populated on the Save

EmplID
2. The ID of the employee you
are adding a manual event for.

Name
3. Name: The name of the
employee you are adding a
manual event for.
4. Action Source: This will default
to Manual whenever you key a
manual event. In the example
above, you also see sources of
JobChg and MultJobChg,
indicating that changes on one
or more job records have caused
an update to occur.
5. Empl Rcd #: The Employment
Record Number from Job is
displayed.
6. Event Date: The Event Date is
the effective date of event.
7. Event Effseq: If there are
multiple events on the same day,
an effective sequence must be
used. If there is only one event,
the default of 0 can remain.
8. BAS Action: This is the Benefits
Administration System action –
mapped to Job action/reasons.
Depending on the type of event,
only certain benefits can be
updated/added. When entering

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Processing Steps Screen Shot

health enrollments, the BAS
action of HBE must be used.
9. Suppress Forms: This field is
not used.

10. COBRA Action: This field is not

used, and data appearing in the
example above was for testing
purposes only. The CSU does
not administer COBRA at the
campus level.

8.0 Batch Processing

The Benefits Administration process is used to perform Event maintenance to process changes in
employee events that affect eligibility, hiring of employees and terminations. When the process runs it
identifies open participant events that have occurred since the last run of the process that may (or may
not) change the eligibility of the participant. This includes family status changes (such as divorce), job-
related information changes (such as Time Base change) and the act of being hired and terminated. The
batch process can be run on demand or scheduled to run each night. For hires, terminations and time
base changes the batch process should be used.
The batch process will perform the following steps:
1. Set Elig Config 1 field on Job for everyone in the BAS_ACTIVITY table. Elig Config 1 field is
used to determine whether an employee has met duration requirements for eligibility.
2. Sets the Benefit Record Number on Job to the appropriate value. Benefit record 0 pertains to all
jobs that are potentially benefits eligible. Benefit Record 1 is used for all excluded job
classifications.
3. Checks primary job settings and makes changes as necessary.
4. Ben Admin COBOL process runs – this determines population, eligibility, prepares enrollment
options and validates/loads the elections to Base Benefits.
5. Updates the finalize flag for employees as necessary – in order to process the automated benefits
and create the file for transmission to the SCO, employees must be finalized.
6. Update run control for event maintenance to reset for next run.

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9.0 Ben Admin Daily Tasks

Daily processing tasks include reviewing processing results, performing event maintenance and
processing manual benefit events such as health and dental enrollments.
Review Processing Results
View Schedule Summary
Review the schedule summary for an overview of process status and open events. The schedule summary
is a collective summary of any activity processed under the schedule ID. The values will increment over
time.
Navigation: Benefits>Manage Automated Enrollment>Review Processing Results>Schedule Summary

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Check Messages for Schedule

Each time the process for a specific schedule ID runs, the system refreshes the set of error messages
associated with that schedule ID. Employees who still have errors from previous runs will be reviewed
and flagged as errors. In addition any errors associated with the schedule will be listed. Use these
messages to locate the source of the error(s) and correct them before rerunning the process.
These messages are also listed on the BAS003 report, which is part of the batch job. A complete
description of the error message along with tips on where to fix the error is included in the BA
troubleshooting guide.
Navigation: Benefits>Manage Automated Enrollment>Review Processing Results>Processing Messages

Understanding process status values

As Ben Admin runs various process statuses are assigned. After the events are assigned to a schedule and
the open event is identified, the system will use eligibility rules to assign the employee to a benefit
program. Typically an event will move through Program Assignment, and continue through prepare
options and be finalized. Events will receive a different process status depending on the system evaluation
results.
Here is a description of the status’s that can be assigned and the steps to enable the event to continue
through the process and be finalized.
Program Assignment

Process Status Description Troubleshooting Steps Next Processing Steps

AS - Program Eligibility Participant event is Typically an event will not Event will continue on in the
Assigned assigned to a benefit stay in an AS status. It will process through the prepare
program. – Process continue on in the options step. The outcome
Successful process. However, if you will depend on the
see an event at the AS associated participant's
process status after Event eligibility for benefit options.
Maintenance Runs, it
means that there are
employees being
processed who have
more than one event

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Program Assignment
Process Status Description
AN - Program Eligibility Participant event is not
Assigned None assigned to a benefit
program.
AE - Program Eligibility Participant event is
Assigned Error assigned to multiple
programs.
Prepare Options
Process Status Description
PR - Prepared The system has
calculated eligible options
for the participant
associated with the event,
and current elections
have been identified for
default processing.
Last Revised: 06/10/08
DRAFT
Troubleshooting Steps Next Processing Steps
assigned to them. The
event will stay in AS
status until the open
event has completed.
You should not see Events with an AN status will
events in a status of AN. continue on through the
Run the Eligible process and end at a
Participants report to finalized – Assigned None
evaluate employees who (FA) status if current
are eligible but not being elections have not been
assigned to a program. made. If elections exist in
Base Benefits the system will
assign them to a prepared
status for action on the
elections. All employees
should fall into a program
assignment.
Employee is eligible for The system cannot process
more than one Benefit the participant event through
Program. You'll most the next stage (Option
likely need to make Preparation) until you correct
corrections to participant the errors. Each time you run
personal, employment or Benefits Administration, the
job information or to system will reevaluate events
program eligibility with an AE designation and
information. Check (try to) move them along in
Benefit Record number the process.
assignment and evaluate
job data for cross
bargaining unit instances.
If the employee is
qualified for more than
one program EmplID
override is necessary.
Troubleshooting Steps Next Processing Steps
Event requires Election The batch process that runs
Entry or finalization. at night will force finalize
prepared events so that
automated benefits can be
written to base benefits. The
system will bring the event to
a process status of FE
(Finalized - Enrolled)
When processing manual
events this status will be
viewed in On Demand.
Enrollment processing will
stop until elections are
entered.
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Prepare Options
Process Status Description
FA - Finalized - Benefit Participant event has no
Program None program assignment and
no current elections.
FP - Finalized - System has assigned
Prepared None participant event to a
benefit program, but the
associated participant is
ineligible to elect any new
options.
PE - Prepare Error The system has
encountered an error
during option preparation
for the participant
associated with the event.
Events are given a PE
process status during
option eligibility
determination or
calculation of credits.
Entering Elections
Process Status Description
ET – Entered A benefits administrator
has entered the
participant's new
elections into the system
and they are ready for
validation by the Benefits
Administration process.
EE - Election Error System encountered an
error in processing the
elections for the
Last Revised: 06/10/08
Troubleshooting Steps
Benefit Program
assignment should occur
for all employees.
Program eligibility should
be reviewed.
PeopleBooks suggests
running the eligibility
reports to determine
eligibility issues for this
status.
Event did not change
eligibility. Prepared none
should indicate no
change in benefits. No
further action required.
To correct, you should
make corrections to the
personal/employment/job
information of the
associated participant or
to plan and option
eligibility information.
Troubleshooting Steps
Event needs finalization.
You will need to correct
the errors by reentering
employee elections.
DRAFT
Next Processing Steps
There is no further
processing for this event. The
online page description for
this process status (on the
Schedule Summary page, for
example) is Program None.
No further processing will
occur for this participant
event. The online page
description for this process
status (on the Schedule
Summary page, for example)
is Prepare None.
Each time you run Benefits
Administration, the system
will reevaluate events with a
PE designation and (attempt
to) move them along in the
Benefits Administration
process.
Next Processing Steps
If the validation process finds
no errors with the elections,
the elections will be posted
to the appropriate benefit
and payroll tables, and the
system will update the
process status to FE
(Finalized - Enrolled).
On the other hand, if there
are errors with the elections,
if any of the employee's
choices are invalid, event
rules will be consulted to
determine whether current
elections or defaults should
be loaded. The system will
set the process status to EE
(Elections Error).
No further processing will
occur for this participant
event. When the Benefits
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Entering Elections

Process Status Description Troubleshooting Steps Next Processing Steps

participant associated Administration process runs

with the event. No again it will try to carry the
elections are posted to event's process status
the Base Benefits tables. forward to FE (Finalized -
Errors are posted to the Enrolled).
Message table and are Alternatively, you can
identified by participant arrange to "force finalize" this
and event. participant event (or the
The previous process entire set of participant
status was either ET events in the Benefits
(entered) or EE (election Administration Open
error). Enrollment schedule) to
finalize it with errors. The
system will load the default
value(s) for the associated
participant's erroneous
benefit option election(s). If a
dependent/beneficiary or
investment choice is in error,
the system will load the
employee's option choice but
will not load the
dependent/beneficiary or
investment choice.

10.0 Event Maintenance

Event maintenance is the process of coordinating multiple events for employees and reprocessing flagged
events. Some coordination will occur automatically through the Benefits Administration process.
However, other coordination will require analysis and manual manipulation of the event. For example,
when an event is retroactively entered into the system that has an earlier event date than an event
currently in process, the system will stop processing the event and change its Event Status from Open to
Closed. It will then open the “new” retroactively entered event and begin processing it. Once that event
has finished processing, the system will automatically start processing the stopped event again.
Additionally, Benefits Administration will automatically stage some events for reprocessing if the event
has been flagged. If an event has not yet reached Prepared (process status equal to Assigned, Assign
Error, Assign None, or Prepare Error) and one or more of the eligibility flags are set, then the event will
get set back to Assign Program before any further processing on this event occurs.
The exception occurs when the “new” event requires that an event in process have assignment, eligibility,
or rate recalculations. The event will be flagged as Out of Sequence and you will need to use the Event
Status page to queue those events for reprocessing. (See reprocessing in the next section)

10.1 Using the CSU Benefit Summary

The CSU Benefits summary page collects JOB and Benefits information on one set of pages so
everything can be viewed together from one source. This replaces looking at the information on each
base record and each job record one at a time. The data is captured through a custom page and displayed.
Use the CSU Benefit Summary Inquiry Page to review employee benefits. This is the starting point to
review the event maintenance issues that were reported on the nightly Ben Admin reports. The page will

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list the benefits the employee is currently enrolled in and future benefit enrollments. The current benefit
enrollments are highlighted in blue for easy reference.
The Review Employee Benefits-CSU Benefits Summary Business Process Guide provides instructions
for the user to review employee and benefits information through the custom CSU Benefits Summary
page.

The Business Process guide for reviewing the CSU Benefits Summary pages is located on the CMS
Website at: http://cms.calstate.edu/T2hr89bp.asp.
Navigation: Home > Benefits> Review Employee Summary >CSU Benefits Summary

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To view all benefits for the employee, select view all.

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Employee Summary
The employee summary gives a recap of job data key fields that are used to determine benefits eligibility.

10.2 Using the Processing Controls Update Pages

Use the Processing Controls Update component to locate and review the event processing status of
individual participant events. The Processing Controls Update pages can be used to search for participant
event records based on a variety of criteria. For example, select the set of participant events that belong to
a particular schedule or benefit program. Also search for specific values, for example employees
assigned to EE (election error). The system displays the results page to review the process status
information of the participant event records that match your search criteria.

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Navigation: Benefits>Manage Automated Enrollment>Events>Update Processing Controls

10.3 Event Coordination

Benefits Administration can only actively process one event per employee at a time, but it can have
several events scheduled for later processing. To manage the schedule, Benefits Administration uses an
event status of Open, Closed or Void. Events must have Open status to be processed. If you run Event
Maintenance, the system creates events for changes to employee job, labor code, and address information.
It also takes note of unprocessed events that were manually inserted through the Ben Admin Activity
page. Events are dynamically opened and closed for processing based on event date and event priority.
The system always tries to process events in a logical sequence; usually this means that the system tries to
process events in the order that they occur. The management of multiple events for a participant is
referred to as event coordination.
While an employee’s current event is in process, the system continues to recognize new events as they are
triggered. If a new event has an earlier date than the current event, the system temporarily closes the
current event and opens the new event for processing. The employee’s Event Status value changes from
Open to Closed. When the new event finalizes and changes to a closed status, the system reopens the
interrupted event.
The system may flag a participant event for reprocessing if the event was processed out of sequence or if
the address, union, or job eligibility associated with the event was changed. These events need to be
coordinated and reprocessed to ensure the Benefits tables correctly reflect their eligible benefits.
Out of Sequence
This flag is set if one or more of the following scenarios occurs:
 New event date is less than the existing event date. A retroactive row is inserted.
 New event date is equal to the existing event date but the priority is higher.
While a participant event is in process, the system will continue to recognize new events as they are
triggered. If the Event Date of a new event is later than the Event Date of the event in progress, the
system will simply schedule and assign the second event to a benefit program and close it with a process
status of AS (assigned). In the meantime, it will continue to process the first event through election
validation and finalization.
If a retroactive event is created and an event is currently in process the system closes the event in process
and opens the new event for processing. The first event's Event Status value is changed from Open to
Closed and is flagged as Out of Sequence. This event will report on the flagged participant report. The

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Event out of Sequence flag indicates that the eligibility information for this event may have changed and
therefore the event might need to be reprocessed.
Disconnected
This flag indicates that the Job, Personal Data, or Job Labor record that created this event has been
deleted, or one or more of the eligibility records does not exist.
When the system flags a participant event as being disconnected, it means that information that the
system uses to track and/or process the event was deleted at some point after the event was triggered.
Once an event is disconnected, it can no longer be processed by the system, except to be voided. There
are two ways a participant event can become disconnected: when the changed HR record that previously
triggered the event is deleted, and when one or more HR records needed for eligibility processing do not
exist. A common example of a disconnected event is a correction to the effective date. Generally, once a
participant event becomes disconnected, it will no longer be picked up by the system. The disconnection
needs to be analyzed to determine what impact it might have on the benefit processing of the employee
associated with the event. However, if an event is disconnected after it is finalized, you may want to void
the event through reprocessing.
Example: The effective date on an employee's HIR job row is changed from June 1, 2008 to June 5, 2008.
Two Bas Activity rows are created: one for the soon-to-be-disconnected June 1, 2008 row, and one for the
about-to-be-created June 5, 2008 row. The original June 1,2008 row will be disconnected, and the new
June 5, 2008 row will be set to open and prepared.
If the original (now disconnected) event is in a Finalized-Enrolled (FE) status, then the employee has
already made their benefit elections. Any disconnected events in FE status need to be voided so that the
elections posted by that event will be rolled back. Be sure to write down the employee's benefit choices
before voiding the event, as these elections will be lost once the void is complete.

10.4 Voiding Disconnected Events

Under most circumstances, when a disconnected event is identified verify that the disconnection did not
occur due to a data entry error in the HR data associated with the event. The action taken when an event
has been disconnected is dependent upon how far the event has gone in the Benefits Administration cycle.
For any disconnected event review the impact of the event's disconnection as well as the impact of the
correction of the event disconnection. For example, if the disconnection takes place because HR data was
inadvertently deleted, the correction of that mistake will most likely cause the system to create new
BAS_ACTIVITY records and possibly a new participant event.
If a participant event is disconnected after it has been finalized (also because eligibility information
related to the event was lost), you may have to take action to reverse the enrollment changes it has made
to a participant record. To do this, you'll void the disconnected event to back out any election information
entered by the event.
Voiding a disconnected event involves bringing up the record of the finalized, disconnected event on the
Processing Controls Update - Controls page or Event Status Update page, selecting a Process Indicator
value of Void (if you are working with a disconnected event, Void will be the only Process Indicator
value the system will allow you to choose), and reprocessing the event. When you do this, the system
backs out elections associated with the event, sets the event's Event Status to Void, and the event's
process status to RE (reentered).
Address eligibility change
This flag indicates if the STATE and POSTAL fields in Personal Data have been changed, deleted or
another record inserted that may affect the outcome of event that has been flagged.

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Job eligibility change

This flag indicates that the Job record that provided the job eligibility parameters for the event's eligibility
processing has either changed, been deleted, or another record has been inserted whose effective date is
between the event date and the Job effective date.
If the data changed on the inserted event does not impact the eligibility of the event, then nothing needs to
be done to the impacted event except to turn off the Job Eligibility Changed Flag. If the data changed will
impact the employee's benefits eligibility, such as lowered time base, then the event will need to be
opened up and set back for reprocessing after the Time Base Change has completed.
Multi-Job Indicator Changed
This flag is set when an employee's primary job record has been changed, deleted, or another Primary Job
record has been inserted that may affect the outcome of the event that has been flagged.
Multi-Activity Indicator
This flag shows those records for which there was more than one BAS Activity with the same Benefit
Record, Event Date, and Event Class. When Ben Admin runs, it consolidated these two events into a
single event.

10.5 Reprocessing
Reprocessing can be necessary in a number of instances. For example, you may want to reprocess an
event when it is processed out of order or when eligibility information related to the event has been
changed. You might also need to reprocess the event when a family status change occurs. You can
reprocess the employee’s event to any previous stage of the Benefits Administration cycle.
Analyze the situation carefully before you reprocess: for example, if you have an ET (Entered) event and
you reprocess it to an AS (Assigned) status, the system backs out all the election information you entered
for the event.
The system moves the event through the process again. If an event is reprocessed back to AS process
status, the system then attempts to process the event all the way to the Prepared ( PR) process status, where
it will await the printing of enrollment forms and data entry of employee elections. Option eligibility,
costs, credits, defaults, and pre-entry values are rechecked.
Listed below you will find steps to reprocess the following events:
 A job reclassification changing employees benefits eligibility.
 A family status change such as marriage, birth, divorce or dependent turns over age 23.
Example: Job Reclassification occurs changing employees benefits eligibility.
Steps to reprocess an open enrollment event back to Assigned:

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1). Change the Event Status to “Assigned” and “Open” and save.

2). Reprocess the event through on-demand and re-enter the benefits elections:

3). Select the Validate/Finalize button.

Benefits Administration gives you the capability to reprocess an event to any stage of the Benefits
Administration cycle, as long as the stage you want to reprocess it to precedes the stage the event is
currently at. For example, if you have an event at the PR (prepared) process status, you can arrange to
reprocess it back to the AS (assigned) process status, but you can't reprocess it to an ET (elections
entered) process status. In short, you can't reprocess an event to a future process state.
When a participant event is reprocessed, the system backs the event out to the stage indicated on either
the process status Update - Controls page or the Event Status Update page essentially returning the event
to the exact state it was in when it was last at the specified process status. So if an event at ET (elections
entered) status and you reprocess it to an AS (assigned) status, the system backs out all of the election
information you entered for it, disregards all of the options it had prepared for the event, and takes the
event back to the stage it was in when it was simply scheduled and assigned to a benefit program.
When you reprocess an event, the system takes the event back to the state you've indicated, and then it
runs the event through the process again. The system will attempt to move the event as far along the
process status flow as it can. For example, if you tell the system to reprocess an event back to the AS
process status, the system will first back the event out to the AS status and then attempt to process the
event all the way down through the process status flow. During this time, option eligibility, defaults, and
pre-entry values will be rechecked.

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When you tell the system to reprocess events that have already been finalized and loaded the system will
bring the event to an interim process status called RE (reenter). You'll reenter data entry for the
participant event and then the system will attempt to validate and load the elections to get the event back
to the ET status.
You control reprocessing for selected participants by your entries on the participant event control fields.
The events allow you to enter values for process indicator and event status. Benefits Administration will
use your entries to reprocess the participant's event. The table below lists the processing completed by the
system in response to your reprocess request in the Process Indicator field.

Process Indicator Processing

Assign Pgm (assign benefit program)
Event Status must be equal to Open.
Schedule assignment will not be reviewed.
Elections for participant events will be rolled back (deleted) from the
Base Benefit enrollment tables. Elections will not be retained (in
BAS_PARTIC tables) for the participant events.
Program eligibility will be rechecked.
Option eligibility, defaults and pre-entry will be recalculated.
The system will attempt to reprocess participants to a PR (prepared)
Process Status.

Elect Optn (elect options) Event Status must be equal to Open.

Schedule assignment, program assignment and option eligibility will not
be reviewed.
The system will roll back elections from Base Benefit enrollment tables. It
will revalidate elections for this event and load them, if there are no
errors, back into the Base Benefit enrollment tables, resetting the final
Process Status to FE (Finalized - Entered).

Normal Prc (normal processing) Standard processing for Benefits Administration.

Prep Optn (Prepare Options) Event Status must be set to Open.

Schedule assignment and program assignment will not be reviewed.
Elections for participant events will be rolled back (deleted) from the
Base Benefit enrollment tables. Elections will not be retained (in
BAS_PARTIC tables) for the participant events.
The system will recalculate option eligibility, defaults, and pre-entry
information. The system will attempt to reprocess participants to a PR
(prepared) Process Status.

Re-Enter You'll use this Process Indicator value to correct election errors for
finalized events with enrollment information that has been loaded to
benefit tables.
Event Status must be equal to Open.
Schedule assignment, program assignment and option eligibility will not
be reviewed.
The system will roll back elections back from Base Benefit enrollment
tables. It will retain your elections for this event in the BAS_PARTIC
table. The system will leave the event at a Process Status of RE
(Reenter).
When you post election changes to the Data Entry component, the
system will update the Process Status to ET (entered).

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Process Indicator Processing

Void The system will update the Event Status to Void, and will remove the
event from processing. The system will not review schedule assignment,
program assignment and option eligibility. If the event is in a Process
Status of Enrolled, elections will be rolled back from Base Benefit
enrollment tables. The system will retain your prior elections for this
event in the BAS_PARTIC table. The system will leave the event at a
Process Status of Re-Enter.

Reprocess Indicator Value (Can see Processing

in On Demand)
None Standard processing for Benefits Administration.
Schedule - (reassign schedules) You'll reassign the Open Enrollment schedule in situations where you
want to start over with Benefits Administration processing. You might do
this when you work through test runs during implementation, for
example.
No participant events on the selected Benefits Administration schedule
can be in a Process Status of NT (notified), EE (election error), ET
(entered), RE (Re-Enter) or FE (finalized-enrolled). The system will
check this at the start of the run and terminate processing if this
condition is not met.
When you reprocess to reassign the Open Enrollment schedule, the
system will ignore the participant events' Process Indicator status and
Event Status—all events, Open and Closed, will be included.
The system will delete all participant event data for this schedule and
then recalculate it through option preparation. This includes program
assignment and the determination of eligible options/defaults.
The system will attempt to process participant events to a PR (prepared)
Process Status.
Assign Benefit Program The system will not review schedule assignment.
The system will roll back (delete) elections for participant events from the
Base Benefit enrollment tables. The system will not retain participant
event election information in the BAS_PARTIC table.
The system will recheck program eligibility.
The system will recalculate option eligibility, costs credits, defaults, and
pre-entry information.
The system will attempt to process participant events to a PR (prepared)
Process Status.
Prepare Options Schedule assignment and program assignment will not be reviewed.
The system will roll back (delete) elections for participant events from the
Base Benefit enrollment tables. The system will not retain participant
event election information in the BAS_PARTIC table.
The system will not recheck program eligibility.
Option eligibility, costs credits, defaults and pre-entry will be
recalculated.
The system will attempt to process participant events to a PR (prepared)
Process Status. t

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Reprocess Indicator Value (Can see Processing

in On Demand)
Elect Options The system will not review or reprocess schedule assignment, program
assignment, and option eligibility.
The system will roll back elections from Base Benefit enrollment tables. It
will revalidate elections for this event and load them, if there are no
errors, back into the Base Benefit enrollment tables, resetting the final
Process Status to FE (finalized - entered).

11.0 Transactional/ Processing Impacts

11.1 Use of Correction Mode

Using Correction mode should be limited in order to avoid excess processing by the benefits staff. It is
recommended that appropriate action/reasons be used to correct errant data. When existing rows are
corrected, new rows are inserted into the BAS_ACTIVITY table, and then all eligibility rules are checked
again. This will cause additional work for the benefits staff and may impact an employee’s benefits. If a
correction must be made, it is recommended that formal communication to the benefits staff be developed
so they are aware of the changes that are made and can monitor the BAS_ACTIVITY table.

11.2 Impact of Entering Retroactive Transactions

Enrolling employees directly in benefits is not possible without Personal and Job data being in
PeopleSoft, so data must be keyed in a timely manner. Retroactive hire transactions may cause additional
analysis to be completed by the benefits staff and may delay an employee’s benefits becoming available
for use.
Based on campus classification review and Systemwide bargaining unit changes, there will inevitably be
retroactive transactions that must be entered. When these are entered, communication to the benefits
office must take place so they can monitor the BAS_ACTIVITY table and ensure that the employee’s
benefits are updated as necessary.

12.0 Manual Events Using BAS_ACTIVITY

PeopleSoft provides the BAS Activity page as a collection device for all events to be held until either the
batch process runs or the events are manually processed through the On-Demand processing pages. The
BAS Activity page is a place to maintain the BAS Activity events or start new events. Only Manual
Events can be manually entered into the BAS Activity page.
Manual Events Classifications include:
1. FSC: Family Status Change – Used to update benefit information due to a change in a qualifying
Permitting Event. This option is also used to Waive coverage that has been previously elected.
All options will open us with this event.
2. FS1: Family Status Change – Used to update benefit information due to a change in a qualifying
Permitting Event. This option is also used to Waive coverage that has been previously elected.
Options are limited to change in Coverage Code and Waive only.
3. FSA: Flexible Spending Accounts – Used to update benefit information for HCRA/DCRA
enrollments. This option is also used to Waive coverage that has been previously elected.
4. HBE: Health Benefit Enrollment – Used to enroll and waive medical coverage. All benefit
options will open up with event.
5. TSA: Tax Sheltered Annuity – Used to enroll and waive TSA enrollments.

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Note: Based on the event classification, paperwork not submitted and/or returned in a timely manner,
may be subject to a 90 day waiting period for enrollment. Ben Admin does NOT calculate this
information for you. Follow current procedure to calculate the date and enter the Event Date accordingly.

13.0 Troubleshooting
The Ben Admin Troubleshoot Guide is provided to detail actions to take and what to look for during the
Benefits Administration process. The guide provides actions to take against errors or reports and details
the Benefits custom reports that have been incorporated into the delivered PeopleSoft Benefits
Administration process. The troubleshooting guide provides information on each of the reports to provide
as assistance in resolving problems identified on these reports.
The Ben Admin Troubleshooting guide contains information on the reports that fall within the Ben
Admin process, information about the report, and some tips and tricks on what to look for and how to
handle an error situation. Users who review the reports will need to thoroughly review reports to make
sure nothing is missed on a daily basis. The processes and reports are listed according to the different
levels of processing that occur throughout the nightly batch process:
 Benefits Administration Pre-Processing
 CSUBAS01 – CSU Benefits Administration Pre-Processing
 Benefits Administration Post-Processing
 CSUBAS02 – CSU Benefits Administration Post-Processing
•Eligible for Benefits but Terminated Plans
•JOB Changes Prior to Ben Admin Start Date
 Benefits Administration Audit Reports
 BAS003 – Benefits Administration Preparation and Election Errors Report
 CSUBAS27 - Employee Processing Status Report Summary
 CSUBAS08 – Report on Flagged Items
The Ben Admin Troubleshooting guide also contains information on the following delivered reports:
 BAS010 – Ineligible Participants Report
 BAS001 – Eligible Participants Report
 BAS006 – Missing Elections Report

The Ben Admin Troubleshooting guide is located on the CMS Website at:
http://cms.calstate.edu/T2hr89bp.asp.
Ben Admin processing guides are available on the CMS website and provide steps to investigate
exceptions, review eligibility results, perform participant election entry, print enrollment statements,
process on-demand event maintenance, review BAS Activity, run automated event processing, review
processing results and on running the various CSU reports and interfaces. The Ben Admin processing
guides listed below are located on the CMS Website at: http://cms.calstate.edu/T2hr89bp.asp.
 Investigate Exceptions-Review Eligibility Results
 Participant Enrollment-Perform Election Entry
 Participant Enrollment-Print Enrollment Statement
 Process Events-CSU On-Demand Event Maintenance
 Process Events-CSU On-Demand Pre-Processing

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 Process Events-Review BAS Activity

 Process Events-Run Automated Event Processing
 Process Events-Update Event Status
 Process Events-Update Processing Controls
 Review Employee Benefits-CSU Benefits Summary
 Review Processing Results-Employee Event Detail
 Review Processing Results-Processing Messages
 Run CSU ACES Interface
 Run CSU Benefits Transaction Report
 Run CSU Payroll Deduction Audit Report
 Run CSU SCO Interface

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