The Department of Veterans Affairs is making a bid to help agencies with one of their most burdensome responsibilities: administering personnel and payroll systems.
VA has teamed with PeopleSoft and Andersen Consulting to develop HR LINK$, an automated self-service buffet of human resources and payroll services.
Using HR LINK$ makes good business sense for agencies that want to improve their operations without buying a whole new computer system, said Jennifer Duncan, the program's administrator. Partnering with VA to handle HR processes is "a win-win situation," Duncan said. VA has 237,000 employees, so it is experienced in managing payroll and other HR services. The agency decided to offer its services to other feds because the more customers who use the administrative system, the lower the cost.
Three components make up the HR LINK$ federal franchising service: a financial center, a data processing center and a shared services center. Together, they manage a myriad of tasks, such as pay, earnings and deductions calculations; federal, state and local tax processing; bonuses and awards processing; unemployment insurance data collection and reporting; and pay check creation, review and revision.
Several factors determine exactly how an agency can collaborate with VA using the HR LINK$ system: the number of employees in the agency, its security requirements, its geographical makeup and other special needs. In some cases, Duncan said, VA will place a project manager at the agency until the system is running smoothly. The price of the service is determined on an agency-by-agency basis.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was the first to buy into the HR LINK$ system, but Duncan believes other agencies will soon follow FERC's lead.
For more information, contact Duncan at jennifer.duncan@mail.va.gov.
NEXT STORY: Mack out, Browner in?