R12.1 RUP6 New and Changed features

(For the previous release RUP5, see my blog here)

Patch 16000686 (R12.HR_PF.B.delta.6) was released on 31-May-2013. For complete details around the new and changed features in this release, please see the My Oracle Support Note 1549442.1 - Oracle Human Resources Management Systems Readme, HRMS Release Update Pack 6 for Release 12.1. Issues with RUP6 are documented in Doc ID 1538636.1.
A quick round up of the significant changes is captured below:

1. Compensation Workbench: 
        a. Email Comp Statements: Rather than print hard copies of compensation letters and manually distribute them, Comp Admins can now securely email the statements.This includes a feature to send statements to a "test" email ID to confirm before sending out to the larger employee population. The emailing feature is also enabled for TCS.
        b. Better performance for Comp Detail Report: A new program called Refresh Compensation Summary needs to be run prior to running the Compensation Detail Report.

2. Core Payroll:
        a. Payslip Modeler: This enables employees to perform a payroll what-if analysis (in effect, allowing them to run a QuickPay after selecting various elements from a list). To enable this,
                i. Set the profile options HR: Enable Payroll Simulation and HR: Enable Multiple Assignments for Payroll Simulation to Y
                ii. Attach Payslip Modeling menu to any custom self-service responsibility. The seeded Employee Self Service as well as Payroll Professional responsibility already have this menu attached.

3. iRecruitment: 
        A number of minor improvements have been including ability to view interviews scheduled where manager or recruiters are only recruiting team members and ability to create tests or assessments in multiple languages.

4. Learning Management: 
        a. Course Pictures: A new region has been added to the create and update course pages, which allows the pictures to be seen on Learner Home, Learning Path, Learning Catalog and Course Catalog pages.
        b. Automatically subscribe Learners to Learning Certifications: New learners can be automatically subscribed to learning certificates based on 'number of days' (doesn't apply for those based on dates). The subscription is controlled by defining a learning group and running a new concurrent program - Process Automatic Certification Subscription.
There are other new features in this module as part of this release. Please refer to above MOS note for details.

5. Performance Management: 
        a. New Questionnaire Administration: A "Questionnaire Administration-New" function available via HR Professional responsibility allows to easily define various questions. Good bye messy HTMLs!
        b. Configurable Print Options: On the Manager Main Appraiser page and Employee My Appraisals page, new choices are available (Print or Print All column - to be enabled via Personalization). Selecting the Print option allow Employees or Manager to print specific parts of their "In Progress" or "Completed" Appraisals (which could be PMP Appraisals or Standard Appraisals).
There are other new features in this module as part of this release. Please refer to above MOS note for details.

6. Self-Service:
        a. Two new functions: Quick Change Hours process allows to change the work schedule and assignment category, without needing to go via Change Pay page. Quick Termination Process removes the 'Change Manager' page and automatically assigns the Managers subordinates to the Supervisor of the Manager. The new profile option 'HR: No Supervisor Error or Warning' determines what to do if no one-over-one manager is defined in the system.
        b. Control display of Effective Date, Review and Confirmation Pages: Setting parameters &pQkFn and &pBpRv to Y turns off the Effective Date and Review pages respectively. Setting either of the above to Y will bypass the confirmation page. Note that this requires changes to the Workflow, to set the "LAST_PAGE_IN_FLOW" attribute and "HR_APPROVAL_REQ_FLAG" attribute for a new node.

7. Time and Labor:
        a. Enhanced Timecard Status Dashboard: Allows to search for status of timecards considering supervisor hierarchy, among other things.

The following modules do not have any new or changed features in this release:

• Oracle Approvals Management
• Configuration Workbench
• Core HR
• Labor Distribution

The following modules have new or changed features, but are not covered in this post; more information on these modules should be read from the Oracle note referred above:

• Oracle Advanced Benefits
• Oracle Succession Planning

(For the next release RUP7, see my blog here)

How to enable attachments on Qualifications Form

In my previous post (which you can find here), I covered what it takes to store attachments submitted via self-service transactions. In that post, we covered that attachments submitted via "Education and Qualification" and "Other Professional Qualifications" self-service transactions will be stored on the Qualifications form.

However, unlike other windows, the Qualifications form does not come with attachments enabled out-of-the-box. To be able to enable attachments on Qualifications window, please follow these steps:

1) (Navigate to) Application Developer --> Attachments --> Document Entities
Use this form to define document entities for Qualifications.
Table: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Entity ID: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Entity Name: PER_QUALIFICATIONS
Prompt: QUALIFICATIONS
Application: Human Resources

2) (Navigate to) Application Developer --> Attachments --> Attachment Functions
Use this form to define attachment functions.
Type : Form
Name: PERWSQUA
User Name: Qualifications
Session Context Field: Leave Blank
Enabled: Yes

3) Open Button - Categories
Click on the ‘Categories’ button of ‘Attachment Functions’ form and select ‘Miscellaneous’ as the category. Close this sub-form.

4) Open Button - Blocks
Click on the ‘Blocks’ button of ‘Attachment Functions’ form:

Block Name: QUALIFICATIONS

Method: PERWSQUA

Secured By: Organization

All other columns: Leave Blank

5) Open Button - Entities

Click on the ‘Entities’ button of ’Blocks’ form:

Entity: PER_QUALIFICATIONS

Display Method: Main Entity

Include in Indicator: Checked

Indicator in View: Leave Blank

Priviledges: Query, Insert, Update, Delete: Always

Primary Key Fields: Key 1: QUALIFICATIONS.QUALIFICATION_ID

That should do it.