Scope: This article will cover preventing Duplicate IDs in MaineStreet Human Resources.
Purpose: This article supplies detailed documentation on how to prevent Duplicate IDs in MaineStreet Human Resources. using the add a person method.
Detailed Information
Using Hire/Employee Search
Determining if a person already exists in the system.
Before entering any person information into Human Resources in PeopleSoft® MaineStreet, you MUST use our custom Add a Person tool. Before allowing you to add a new employee, the tool searches the Campus Solutions and HR databases to determine whether a record already exists for the person. A thorough search is necessary to avoid creating someone with multiple EMPLIDs.
Additional Resource: Preventing Duplicate IDs Video
What is a Duplicate ID?
Duplicate Student IDs and/or EMPLIDs cause hours of dreary cleanup work. When they are not discovered early they can lead to errors and delays in service such as inability to register, pay fees or receive financial aid or refunds, missed communications and missed opportunities for the student and for the campuses.
New person records are created in Campus Solutions as prospects, applicants, quick admits and as non-student persons through Add/Update a Person. Additionally, new person records are created in Human Resources for new employees. These records then populate the Campus Solutions database. If there is any indication that the person is or was an employee or a student, they will already have an EMPLID.
Most errors occurring these days are with one of the records being a prospect. Prospect information is often less complete and less formal than what comes in on formal applications. Nicknames are used, addresses are vague, national IDs and Dates of birth are rare. Usually there is enough of some combination of data to determine a match.
When performing a search for existing records, a very natural temptation is to enter as much information as you know about the person so you can make sure the name returned is really the one you want. Despite being well-intentioned, that is not the way to go about it. Less is more. See Pro Tips below at right. When performing a search, you want to enter as little as you can to get a manageable list returned to pick from. When no results are returned, do not be too quick to assume you need to add a new record—try another search. When you do get a list of possible matches, examine them carefully to see if you have the correct one, and to see if there are TWO correct matches...that is, an already existing duplicate that needs to be reported before it gets worse. This is when you can call into play the other data (address, DOB) that you know about a person. This takes extra time and care, but will speed up with practice, when you get more familiar with searching.
Performing a Search for Duplicates
- Navigate to the Add a Person page
MyCampus > MaineStreet > Enterprise Applications > Human Resources Employees (HRPRD) > Navigation Bar > Navigator > Workforce Administration > Personal Information > Add a Person
- Enter the first few letters of the first and last name under Search Options on the Hire/Employee Search page.
Potential matches will appear under Search Results. If there is no match, you will see a red notification next to the Empl ID field under the Search button at the top right of the Search Options box. This is when you can call into play the other data, such as date of birth and/or National ID (includes Social Security Number) that you may know about a person. You can tell when results all belong to the same EMPLID by looking at the Emplid column. Examine the rows carefully to see if you have the correct one, and to see if there are TWO correct matches...that is, an already existing duplicate that needs to be reported before it gets worse.
- The example below is strictly for illustration. This image is from performing a similar search, but starting from the CS database. You will notice there are more columns of information displayed under Search Results, but the premise is the same. This search was entered with the first name HOW and the last name CLY. It returned a number of results, and three IDs found. But when we look for unique identifiers, we also see that there are only two addresses; it appears we have found two individuals, and three IDs. Both IDs for Howard Clymore are the same, and all of the information displayed matches. However, It appears that the information for Howard Clyborne contains two IDs. So not only is this person already in MaineStreet, they have been entered twice, and assigned two EMPLIDs. Although you would have picked up at least one record if you had entered HOWARD instead of only HOW, you would not have picked up the HOWIE record and would have missed the duplicate IDs.
- Additionally, you can use the column names at the top of the table, click to sort (once: ascending, once more: descending) any data in the table by whatever fields you feel are helpful If your results display more than 20 rows, a View All link will appear in the title bar of the Search Results box. Click to view up to 100 rows. If you there is more than one page, scroll through using the arrows to the right of View All.
- Sorting
The date of birth is usually the most helpful: click the Date of Birth column once to sort by ascending. Any Empl IDs with blank DOB will appear first. These are especially important to check as they are missing a critical piece of data. A positive Empl ID matching would typically require the address or email address in these cases.
Sorting by Date of Birth also arranges the rows in an order that makes it easy to identify Dates of Birth that are similar to the one you have. It is possible that the individual has a previous ID which may have either a typo or handwriting misinterpretation from when it was entered. The Date of Birth sorts by month, then day, then year. Look for birthdays with months and days similar to your individual.
- Final Steps
If you have determined there are no matches, select the No Match button to add a new person.
If there IS an existing EMPLID (this occurs for instance when a current or former student becomes an employee) simply click on the Empl ID to make them an employee.
- If you find DUPLICATE ID, report it by submitting a ticket in the IT Help Desk.
Applies To
- UMS employees engaged in creating IDs for new students or employees.
- System-wide
- Applies to:
- Campus Solutions
- PeopleSoft