Introduction
- The
Office of Personnel
Management (OPM)
is implementing
several systems
across Government
that's intended
to improve the management
of human capital.
One of these systems
is the e-OPF. The
e-OPF replaces the
current paper based
folder with an electronic
folder containing
each employee's
personnel records.
Information on e-OPF can be found on the OPM
web site, http://www.opm.gov/egov/ehri_overview.asp.
This
concept of operations
paper is intended
to outline the basic
concepts of the
e-OPF and its components.
Benefits
- e-OPFimproves
the ability of the
Government to provide
personnel services
in many ways including:
Access - Employees
who are not co-located
with the personnel
office that maintains
their paper based
OPF have little
or no access to
the documents in
their folder. In
many cases an employee
never reviews the
content of his or
her folder until
retirement. If errors have occurred and critical documents
have not been properly
filed early in a
person's career,
they are much more
difficult to correct
10, 20 or 30 years
after the fact.
e-OPF provides employee
access any time
and any place via
a secure internet
site.
Security/Continuity
of Operations -
The current
paper based folder
is a "single
point of failure."
A folder can be
lost. A fire or natural disaster can destroy hundreds
or thousands of
folders. There
is no back up. As
an electronic database,
e-OPF allows every
employee's documentation
to be backed up
and securely stored
at a remote site.
The
employment record
for each employee
can be restored
if a disaster occurs.
Efficiency
of Operations -
The current
system requires
documents such as
a "Notification
of Personnel Action"
to be printed. One
copy gets filed
and one copy gets
mailed to the employee.
For example, the annual pay adjustment for agency "X" in
January produces
approximately 14,000
documents that must
be individually
filed. Obviously this process requires significant resources
and as a manual
process there are
many opportunities
for mistake. When
e-OPF is implemented,
the National Finance
Center
(NFC) will
transmit the data,
which will be automatically
filed in each employee's
electronic folder.
Rather
than get a copy
of the document
in the mail, the
employee will get
an email notification
that a document
has been added to
their folder. The employee can then go online to review the document and, if desired,
print a copy.
Responsiveness
- In many instances
providing services
or answers is dependent
upon having access
to an employee's
OPF. Delays
occur when a paper
based folder has
to be retrieved.
Information in e-OPF
will be available
at any time to authorized
servicing personnel
specialists. Investigators
doing background
checks can be given
short-term access
to an employee's
electronic folder.
This
will allow background
checks and security
clearances to be
done much more quickly.
Implementation
Plans - The
USDA has targeted
July 2006 for completion
of Fast Track Implementation
and is funding the
initiative. Implementation
will begin as an
"Electronic
Day Forward"start.
This means that an e-OPF will be established for each employee and
new documents will
be electronically
received from NFC
and will be electronically
filed. Employees
will be notified
how to access the
system using a phased
approach.
It
is still unclear
as to the funding
source for annual
hosting, maintenance
and back-file conversion;
however, the Office
of Human Capital
Management (OHCM)
is researching funding
options. As funds become available, existing paper folders
will be reviewed;
documents that are
no longer supposed
to be in the folders
will be removed;
and the folders
will be sent to
an OPM approved
contractor who will
scan and index the
documents in the
folders. Once scanned, the folders will be returned to
a National Archives
and Records Administration
(NARA) warehouse
for storage. OPM
is expected to issue
guidance on how
long the folders
should be retained.
Shortly
after the documents
are scanned the
images will be loaded
into the employee's
e-OPF. The employee
will then be able
to review the scanned
documents and can
assist with the
overall quality
control of the process
by reporting any
problems not previously
detected.
Training
- Use
of the system by
employees is not
complicated. Training
materials will be
distributed to help
employee's get started.
There will be help
desk support provided
by NFC.
Data
Security - The
e-OPF will be operated
by the National
Business Center
in Denver CO, part
of the Department
of Interior. This
operation has a
certified and accredited
security plan. Access
to an employee's
records will be
limited to the employee
and designated personnel
in the employee's
servicing personnel
office. Access
is controlled by
userid and password.
The userid is assigned
by the system and
should be kept private.
Passwords will initially
be emailed or hard
copy mailed to the
employee. The
password can then
be changed. Employees
will not be able
to enter or change
information in the
e-OPF. Additionally,
the e-OPF application
will automatically
keep a record of
all instances where
an employee's folder
is accessed. This
auto-auditor not
only keeps a record
of the user's identity
but also date stamps
when the user accessed
the employee's personnel
folder. (Note: Forest
Service employee's
will have access
to their e-OPF's
through the Forest
Service's Self Service
Dashboard.)
.gif){kind=spacer}
