VMSI Employee Timehseet Help

Employee Timesheet

The VMSI Timesheet is designed to allow all VMSI employees to enter their hours for the one-week time period and provides a method of online approval and submission that replaces a signed timesheet. Submitted timesheets are sent to the employee’s reviewer (VMSI or client) for their review. Employees will receive an email notifying them when their reviewer accepts or rejects their timesheet.

Browser Requirements

Below is a list of internet browsers that are supported when using the VMSI Timesheet system. Session cookies are required (normally enabled). Regular cookies are not required, but if enabled, one will be created that stores your User ID for use the next time you log on. To modify your settings for either type of cookie, click the tools menu on your browser and select Internet Options… Click the Privacy tab and select the Advanced… button in the middle of the page. To enable Session cookies (required) the Always allow session cookies check box should be checked. To enable regular cookies, select Accept under First-party Cookies. Click OK and OK. For additional assistance, contact VMSI Technical Support.

Supported Browsers:

- Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 8+
- Google Chrome Version 20+
- Mozilla Firefox Version 15+

Other browsers may work, but they have not been tested.

Login page

The web address, http://www.vetms.com/timesheet/, will take you to the VMSI Timesheet Login page. You can also access this page by selecting Log On from the Employee menu when you are in the system. If you attempt to go to either the Change Password page or the Timesheet page without logging on first, you will be redirected to this page with a message indicating that “You haven't logged in yet or your session has expired due to inactivity. Please enter your UserID and Password to Log On.”

Enter the User ID and Password assigned to you. These fields are case-sensitive and normally when they are created, they will be entirely lower-case. The first time you successfully log in, you will be immediately redirected the Change Password page where you will need to change your initial password. The next time you go to the Login page, your User ID will be pre-filled (if cookies are enabled on your PC), and after successfully logging in, you will be redirected to the Timesheet page.

If you forget your User ID or Password, contact Time Administration Support. They cannot tell you your current password, but they can change it for you.

Change Password page

This page can be accessed by selecting Change Password from the Employee menu. You will also be redirected to this page the first time you log in to the system. This page cannot be accessed unless you are already logged on.

You may change your password at any time. Enter you current password in the Old Password box and your new password in the next two boxes. Remember that passwords are case-sensitive. If you have any errors, one or more messages will be displayed above the form. If the password change is successful, you will be redirected to a general page with a password has been successfully changed message.

Logging Off

You can log off of the system by selecting Log Off from the Employee menu. After logging off, you will be redirected to a general page with a logged off message. To log back in, choose Log On from the Employee menu.

Note: the system will automatically log you off after 20 minutes of inactivity.

Timesheet page

This page can be accessed after logging on by selecting Timesheet from the Employee menu. Each time you log in after the first time, you will be redirected to this page automatically.

The title line for this page should show your full name. If it is incorrect, please contact Time Administration Support.

The Week Ending dropdown will display the date for the current pay period ending date (every other Friday). You can display your past several timesheets, or future timesheets, by selecting a different period ending date from the drop down. Each time you select a different date, your timesheet will be automatically refreshed. Please note that you only have several days after a pay period end date to complete and submit your hours. After that, prior-period timesheets cannot be modified or submitted. Future period ending dates are available so that you can complete and submit your timesheets for extended leave situations.

It is recommended that you enter your hours on the timesheet at the end of each day so that when you get to the end of the pay period, you are not trying to remember what you did 12 days ago. After entering hours for a given activity the first time, use the edit button to add additional hours for that activity on the following days (see Edit Mode below)

Below the Week Ending dropdown is a grid that displays your hours for the current period. Any hours you enter or change (on an Add line or Edit line) are not committed to the database until you hit the Add or Change button, respectively. When you come into a new (current or future) timesheet, the grid will have three rows: a header row with the days and dates of the one-week period; an Add line with a default Activity and zeroes entered for each day; and a total row. Please note that VMSI’s pay period starts on a Saturday and ends on a Friday. The Saturday and Sunday fields are shaded slightly gray to help remind you that these are not normally work days, however hours can be entered in these fields if you perform any work on the weekend.

PTO Information

For Salaried and Hourly employees, there is a table to the right of the Week Ending dropdown that displays your current PTO information in hours. The top line displays a Pay Period Ending date. This date should match the date displayed in the Week Ending dropdown.

If you are looking at a past timesheet (already entered and approved), you will see four pieces of information:

  • Prior Balance - This is the ending PTO balance from the previous pay period.
  • Earned - This is the number of PTO hours accrued in this pay period.
  • PTO Used - This is the number of PTO hours reported in this pay period.
  • PTO Balance - This is the Prior Balance plus Earned minus PTO Used. This will equal the Prior Balance shown in the next pay period.

If you are looking at a current or future timesheet, you will see two pieces of information:

  • Prior Balance - This is the ending PTO balance from the last entered and approved timesheet.
  • Est. Balance - This is the Estimated PTO Balance available to you. It is equal to the Prior Balance plus the estimated PTO accruals since the last entered and approved timesheet through the Pay Period Ending Date. It does not subtract any PTO you may have entered on this timesheet. If this number is positive, this is the maximum hours you can charge to PTO in this pay period.

New Activity

To add hours to your timesheet, select the appropriate Activity (see Activity Definitions below), enter the associated hours for this activity in the text boxes under the correct days and click the Add button on the left. If the hours entered pass all of the edits (See Add or Change Edits below), your activity hours will be added and the page will be refreshed. The grid will now have a new line inserted (with Edit and Del buttons) showing the hours just entered and the totals will be updated. You can continue to add hours for additional activities in the same manner as long as you are not duplicating an Activity previously entered.

Edit Mode

To change hours already entered on your timesheet or to add hours for an Activity that has already been entered, click the Edit button for the Activity you want to modify. The page will be refreshed and the Activity and hour fields for that row will be in Edit mode - changes can be made to that row. When you are in Edit mode for a given row, the Add line and the Submit Hours button are temporarily unavailable, and the two buttons in the Action column will be changed to Update and Cancel. After making any necessary changes to the row, use the Update button to commit your changes to the database and refresh the page. Use the Cancel button to ignore any changes you just made in that row and refresh the page. While in Edit mode, if you press the Edit or Del buttons on any other row, any changes you made will be ignored, and the new row will enter Edit or Delete mode.

Delete Mode

To delete the hours for a given activity, click the Del button. You will receive a confirmation message “Are you sure you want to delete these Activity hours?” Click OK to delete the hours for the Activity and refresh the page. Click Cancel to return to the page without deleting the hours.

Activity Definitions

The list of Activities available to you in the dropdown box when you are adding or editing a row are specific to your assignment(s), your employment type and your VMSI work assignments (overhead activities). At the top of the list are the Activity codes associated with the work you are performing with your current client(s). If Activities seem to be missing, please contact Time Administration Support as soon as possible.

Following your specific Activity codes are the general Activity codes. The codes available to you depend on your employment type and VMSI assigments. For further help with any of these Activities, please contact Time Administration Support. The general Activity codes are:

  • Overhead Activities – these activity codes are for specific overhead activity such as Overhead, G&A, Marketing or B&P. These activities are used to charge working hours that are not performed for a specific client and are not billable. They are used almost exclusively by VMSI staff in headquarters. Time Administration Support can make these activities available on your timesheet as appropriate.
  • PTO – this Activity is available for full-time employees. Generally, the hours available to you are shown on your last paystub. Employees may charge PTO in full hour increments (1 to 8 hours).
  • Holiday - this Activity is available for full-time employees. VMSI has 10 paid holidays per year (consult the Employee Handbook for further details). Enter 8 for the number of hours.
  • Unpaid Leave – this Activity is available for salaried employees and only after Time Administration Support has enabled it for an individual employee. Use this Activity if you must take the day off and you do not have enough PTO available. Unpaid Leave must be taken in 8 hour increments and no other Activity can be reported for that day.
  • Jury Duty and Bereavement - these Activities are available for full-time employees. Consult the Employee Handbook and Time Administration Support for further information on the use of these leave types.

Add or Change Edits

Before hours can be updated or submitted, your timesheet must pass certain edits. If there are any errors, they will be displayed in red text above the hours grid. The specific edits for adding or changing hours include:

  • A given Activity can only appear once on the timesheet.
  • Hours must be numeric, between 0 and 20, and in .25 hour increments.
  • Hours cannot be added or changed if all of the hour fields are 0.
  • Unpaid Leave must be for 8 hours on weekdays only without any other Activity reported for that day.
  • PTO must be in full hour increments on weekdays only.
  • Holiday must be for 8 hours on weekdays only.

Submit Hours

When you have completed your time entry for the pay period, click the Submit Hours button to approve your timesheet (this is the same as signing a printed copy of your timesheet). When you click the Submit Hours button you will receive a confirmation message which also includes the total hours that you are submitting for this one-week period. If you need to return to the timesheet to make additional changes, click Cancel, otherwise, click OK to approve the hours. When you click OK, an email is generated to your reviewer notifying them that your timesheet is ready for their review. Your timesheet will be refreshed and no changes can be made to your hours. In the status section, you will see the date and time that you submitted your hours. If you have submitted your hours by mistake, contact Time Administration Support immediately.

When your reviewer approves or rejects your timesheet, you will receive an email notice.

Status

Below the Hours grid, a status section is displayed. You can quickly see when you submitted your timesheet and whether your reviewer has taken any action. If the reviewer has rejected your timesheet, the rejection reason will be displayed. There may be comments displayed as well – these were entered by the Time Administrator if there was any exception processing or overrides. The status section is shown on your current timesheet as well as past and future timesheets.

Print-friendly Timesheet

At the bottom of the Timesheet there is a link that will open a new window and display your timesheet in a print-friendly format. This timesheet cannot be edited. Close this new window when you are finished.

Notifications of email or reviewer changes

If your work-related email changes or there is a change of reviewer for your assignment, please contact Time Administration Support as soon as possible.