Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) is one of five Office of Personnel Management (OPM) led e-Government initiatives designed to leverage the benefits of information technology. EHRI is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF), which protects information rights, benefits, and entitlements of federal employees.

Our mission is to provide official governmentwide human resources data and enable technology to support the federal employee lifecycle through informed human capital decision making.

The (eOPF) Program became a key EHRI effort when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) mandated all Executive Branch agencies eliminate paper Official Personnel Folders (OPF) by December 2013.

Through on-demand Web-based access to personnel folders, EHRI eOPF enables 24/7 concurrent access to personnel information by Human Resources (HR) staff, and employees. It also allows the electronic transfer of the eOPF from one agency to another when the employee moves from one organization to another. The suite of EHRI analytical tools and a comprehensive Data Warehouse provides on demand, custom reports to plan and forecast the personnel needs of the Federal Government.

One-stop Solutions for Agencies

With numerous eOPF implementations underway or completed, EHRI offers a standardized approach for HR record conversion, storage, access, sharing, and archiving. Solutions are customized to meet the needs of agencies of all sizes. EHRI also provides management oversight for paper OPF conversion and eOPF hosting as well as comprehensive support to guide agencies throughout the OPF conversion process.

Key governmentwide Benefits

• Eliminates the need for more than 2.0 million paper employee records, saving almost $800 million over the next 10 years
• Streamlines HR processes
• Allows data analysis for policy formulation and impact studies
• Enables access to pay and benefits data from Agency payroll providers
• Provides economies of scale for the entire government

...The improved security enabled by eOPF fulfills an important role in Continuity of Operations (COOP) in case of disaster. Special Investigators have also benefited from electronic folders, cutting the time it takes to review a folder almost in half, thereby better supporting national security interests.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for the administration of the Federal Retirement Program - covering more than 2.9 million active employees and 2.4 million annuitants who are eligible for retirement benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS). OPM initiated the Retirement Data (RD) initiative to migrate from a paper-based environment to an electronic system of retirement data management and improve retirement processing and post-retirement processing efficiency.

OPM has collaborated with internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), external Shared Service Centers (SSCs), and Agency representatives to develop the content for the Retirement Data guides.

Guide to Retirement Data Reporting

The Guide to Retirement Data Reporting (GRDR) addresses a key component of the EHRI Retirement Data effort to provide an electronic exchange of standardized retirement data needed to process retirements for Federal employees in a timely and accurate manner. OPM has worked with internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), external Shared Service Centers (SSCs), and Agency representatives to identify the most appropriate data to support the GRDR standard.

Version 5.0 dated February 2012

• Guide to Retirement Data Reporting (GRDR)
• Appendix A - ERR Example for Separation
  • Appendix A - Example File
  • Appendix A - Example File
• Appendix B - ERR Example for Transfer
  • Appendix B - Example File
  • Appendix B - Example File
• Appendix C - ERR Example for FERS Elections
  • Appendix C - Example File
  • Appendix C - Example File
• Appendix D - ERR Examples for Reemployed Annuitant Separations
  • Appendix D - Example File
  • Appendix D - Example File
  • Appendix D - Pay Period Breakdown
• Appendix E - ERR and SSR Example for Retirement
  • Appendix E - Example File
  • Appendix E - Example File
• Appendix F - ERR and SSR Example for Death-In-Service
  • Appendix F - Example File
  • Appendix F - Example File
• Appendix G - ERR and SSR Examples for Preliminary Disability Retirement
  • Appendix G - Example 1 File
  • Appendix G - Example 2 File
  • Appendix G - Example 1 File
  • Appendix G - Example 2 File
• Appendix H - Retirement Data Valid Values
• Appendix I - Data Transfer Package Example
• Appendix J - XML Schemas for the EHRI Retirement Data Feeds
  • Appendix J - Data Transfer Package
  • Appendix J - Managed Record Metadata
  • Appendix J - Electronic Retirement Record
  • Appendix J - Summary of Service Record
  • Appendix J - Retirement Repository Instruction
  • Appendix J - RSM Common Types
• Appendix K -CSRS and FERS Retirement Provisions

Archived

Version 4.0 dated June, 30th, 2010

The Official Personnel Folder (OPF) is a file containing records that cover a civilian federal employee's employment history. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the agency human resources (HR) offices use these documents to make decisions about employees' rights, benefits and entitlements throughout their careers.

The eOPF is an electronic version of the paper OPF, providing Web-enabled access for federal employees and HR staff to view eOPF documents. Agencies also may provide eOPF access to special investigators, helping to speed the investigation process and save agency resources.

The content of all eOPFs are organized and stored in accordance with the Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping (GPR) and other pertinent legal and/or regulatory guidance. These various references are documented in the Office of Personnel Management Master Forms List.  The eOPF provides a standard electronic solution to replace the paper storage of the OPF.

The eOPF is stored electronically in a secure central repository, with role-based security for access to the records. The eOPF incorporates an audit trail for all user activity. Agency HR and payroll systems provide an automated interface with eOPF, and agencies use the automated business processes to support HR review and approval efforts without paper. The eOPF includes the ability for simultaneous viewing of documents from different locations allowing an employee and HR specialist to access the records at the same time. The eOPF allows HR resources to focus on strategic value added services rather than the daily filing activities required for paper documents.

Paper records are subject to damage or destruction by fire or water. The eOPF electronic records are regularly backed up, and the eOPF provides disaster recovery to assure continuity of operations in any situation.

Government requirements for data security are incorporated globally to address such issues as data access controls/permissions, PKI encryption of Web-enabled interfaces, and data delivery over the web.

eOPF Implementation Process is divided into five phases: Pre-Assessment, Assessment, Application Deployment, Conversion, and Production Support. At any given time, there are multiple agencies performing tasks within each phase of eOPF thus providing agencies with the opportunity to collaborate with, and learn from similar experiences of their agency peers. Innovative technology solutions, leadership and the development of best practices have guided the eOPF program.

In addition to providing centralized system hosting and operational best practices for EHRI eOPF, EHRI also offers customer support and implementation resources to guide agencies during conversion and beyond.

Advantages for HR Specialists

Human Resources (HR) specialists strive for efficiency, flexibility, and security in managing HR records. EHRI's eOPF solution increases productivity and efficiency, and frees HR staff to work directly with the federal employee to resolve issues and answer questions. Specifically, eOPF and analysis & reporting help agencies:

• Reduce re-work caused by inaccurate or missing personnel data/folders
• Enable efficient, accurate workforce planning and human capital management
• Eliminate oversight of employee review of personnel folders
• Automate employee notifications
• Enhance accuracy, portability and security of personnel records
• Provide immediate access to employee data for a geographically dispersed workforce

The security functionality allows an agency to grant individual eOPF access to each employee. This provides the employee the ability to review personal eOPF data, which increases employee awareness and accountability. Additionally, eOPF facilitates the electronic filing of SF-50 data and automates employee notification of actions through email alerts. Several agencies have leveraged the eOPF underlying technology to automate approval processes and document removal, further improving HR Specialists' ability to perform job functions quickly and effectively.

While these benefits are compelling read the answers to frequently asked questions to learn more about eOPF.

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Customer Support

The EHRI Project Management Office (PMO) is experienced not only in eOPF operations and execution, but also with cross-over requirements and integration with other eGov initiatives such as ePayroll and Retirement System Modernization.

EHRI assigns a project lead to guide each agency through the eOPF conversion process. All aspects of the conversion are jointly managed through the EHRI PMO and the agency. Comprehensive customer support includes:

• National Business Center hosting
• Help Desk service
• Training for HR specialists and eOPF administrators
• HR and employee user guidance and processes

In addition, the EHRI governance structure ensures its goals and objectives are accomplished with participation from key stakeholders through:

• eOPF Users Group that provides feedback, allows agencies to share experiences and advice, and enables the EHRI PMO to gather and catalog lessons learned
• eOPF Workflow Workgroup that strives to automate HR procedures to improve productivity and eliminate errors
• eOPF Requirements Workgroup that identifies and prioritizes changes to the eOPF solution
• Workforce Analysis Users Group that provides feedback, allows agencies to share experiences, lessons learned, and provides advice to develop new and improved analytic techniques to utilize in the human capital planning process

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Integrating into Your IT Environment

EHRI acknowledges the technological concerns about topics such as security, resource impact, and capacity consideration. The EHRI PMO is available to work with agency IT teams to ensure successful implementations.

Check out the answers to the frequently asked questions from the IT community.

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Entrance on Duty (EOD) refers to the automated utilization and distribution of information required as part of the new employee hiring process. An EOD system automates the initial employment information and is a component of the greater employee hiring process. The hiring process also includes new employee socialization, orientation, and training. A comprehensive EOD solution leverages system interoperability and workflow to include all of the necessary steps between applicant selection and reporting for duty. Applicants may complete their pre-employment and orientation paperwork by entering information through the EOD system. An EOD solution increases the efficiency with which new employees are hired by automating the provisioning process and alerting individuals as tasks are completed.

A number of agencies and Personnel/Payroll Shared Service Centers are developing EOD systems to streamline the employee hiring process. Many of the forms necessary, as part of the hiring process are forms required for long-term retention in the eOPF. The EHRI PMO is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the eOPF, which protects information rights, benefits, and entitlements of the employee. As such, EHRI has defined the requirements for eOPF data utilization and sharing.

The EOD CONOPS report is the basis for the EHRI EOD Requirements Specifications dated June 14, 2010. This document defines the requirements for the utilization and sharing of new hire data necessary to assure development of EOD systems that meet the legal and policy standards to produce electronic documents suitable for transmission to eOPF for long term storage.

Self-Certification

An EOD Self-Certification must be completed and approved before a data feed is sent to eOPF. This is necessary to:

• Protect the rights, benefits and entitlement of the Federal employee
• Assure compliance with Federal laws and policies
• Implement the appropriate electronic signature solution in accordance with Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA) and related guidance

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) Program's Data Warehouse is the Government's premier source for integrated Federal workforce information. The system currently collects, integrates, and publishes data for 2.0 million Executive Branch employees on a bi-weekly basis, supporting agency and governmentwide analytics. In addition, the system provides Federal workforce data to other Government systems and processes dependent upon the integrated data. The OPM Data Warehouse architecture provides a flexible, scalable, and secure environment for current and future Government requirements, and expansion is planned through the addition of new federal employee populations, new data elements, improved data integration and data quality processes, and by enabling new system interfaces that utilize industry best-practice architectures.

Benefits of the OPM Data Warehouse include:

• Standardized collection of federal employee data, reducing the number of data calls made to agencies and providers for common employee data
• Centralized focus on data quality and integration to one system, reducing costs for replicating this work in multiple sources
• Consistent, timely, and secure source for other programs requiring integrated federal employee data, such as the Retirement Systems Modernization program.
• Integrated reporting across the Federal workforce in addition to capabilities for advanced analysis by agencies and operating units

Components of the OPM Data Warehouse include:

• Standard data interfaces for the collection of human resources (HR), payroll, and training data
• Processes to integrate data from the various sources to provide a comprehensive view of a federal employee's career
• Framework for reporting data quality including reports available to agencies and providers to identify data errors and inconsistencies with Federal regulations
• Flexible and extensible architecture to allow the addition of data elements and interfaces to support new business processes
• Core set of standard reports with custom report development capability provided through an industry best-practices reporting and analysis tool
• Workforce planning, analysis and forecasting tools to meet the Federal workforce planning requirements
• Individual employee lookup tool to view history across the employee's Federal career
• Secure systems environment that meets Federal data standards and certification requirements

Future capabilities to leverage the investment in the OPM Data Warehouse include:

• Expansion of data collection to the agencies in the Judicial and Legislative Branches to provide a Federal-wide view of employees
• Development of interfaces to other federal employee-related data sources such as entrance-on-duty, retirement processing, benefits systems, training, certification, and so forth
• Enhancements to data quality and integration tools to support a complete and accurate view of records across an employee's Federal career
• Deployment of a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) to provide access by external systems to OPM Data Warehouse data and processes via common services and interfaces

Build reports that provide day-to-day analysis, regarding:

• Mission-critical occupational areas
• Accession planning
• Retirement bubbles
• Long-term impacts of current policies
• Alternative incentives for early and voluntary retirements
• Separations
• Seasonal, demographic and geographical trends
• Significant indicators of turnover
• Retention across recruiting classes
• Employee satisfaction
• And much more!

Analysis and Reporting

In addition to streamlining personnel management actions through eOPF, EHRI provides workforce analytic and planning capabilities to improve human capital management across the federal employee base. These easy-to-use, strategic tools are accessed by HR Specialists, report writers and executives to determine current needs, forecast future requirements, and report on other HR-related issues. They include:

Together, these applications enable a level of strategic human capital planning that previously was difficult if not impossible to achieve. EHRI users query workforce data from a variety of perspectives to determine statistical counts, averages, correlation and so forth. Trends are determined for retirements, promotions, reassignments, and other significant personnel actions. It provides access to a civilian personnel data warehouse containing 35 years of historical federal employee data.

Business Intelligence

The Business Intelligence (BI) reporting application provides on-demand and user defined query, drill down reporting and analysis capabilities. Ad-hoc queries are executed on a number of subject areas including (but not limited to): age, agency, employee, payroll, performance appraisal, personnel action, position, and retirement. The tool enhances strategic decision-making by delivering visual graphic capability with dashboards and executive summaries.

The Civilian Forecasting System

The Civilian Forecasting System (CIVFORS) offers a life-cycle modeling and projection tool. It provides forward-looking analytical data and seven year projections based on five years of historical data. The forecasting tool includes manpower target data, projections for accession requirements and separations (by type), and optimizes to target levels. As a workforce planning tool, CIVFORS helps determine projected vacancies by occupation, grade, organizations units, or geographic location.

The Workforce Analysis Support System

The Workforce Analysis Support System (WASS) enables users to retrieve data for workforce planning and designing output reports from a civilian personnel data warehouse containing 35 years of historical federal employee data. Statistical analysis routines (SAS scripting) are used to retrieve data from the data warehouse. The tool provides access to data files for strength data, Nature of Action (NOA) files for specialized studies, and edited gains and losses files. Through the WASS, information regarding turnover, aging workforce, retirements, and many more workforce statistics are available.