Employees

The employee record stores information such as address, phone number, wage, driver's license number and expiration, productivity statistics, and certifications. Employee records need to be added for all mechanics that will be working on or managing vehicles. You can also add records for other types of employees but keep in mind the RTA Fleet Management Software is designed to track fleet maintenance and costs and has no payroll functions. The employee file is used primarily by the Work Order module and Paperless Shop to track labor hours spent on jobs. A mechanic timecard is available in the Paperless Shop add-on option.
NOTE: Use the System Security feature to only allow authorized personnel access to employee records. Refer to "System Security" for more information.

Employee Classifications

Prior to adding your employees, you may want to establish employee classifications, which allow you to categorize employees into groups such as mechanic, clerk, manager, welder, etc.To add an employee classifications,refer to Employee Class in the configuration option section.

Adding an Employee

To add an employee record, do the following:

Select Master > Employee > File Maintenance from the RTA main menu (MMM).
Enter password level 1.
Enter an employee number and choose Add. The employee number is a numeric field allowing up to ten digits.
Enter a unique abbreviation. Employee's initials or first name are commonly used.
Enter desired additional employee information.
Save the record.

Employee Record Field Descriptions: Main Window
Most of the fields in the employee record are provided for your benefit and are not used by the RTA system; those that are will be noted in the description.

Employee Number: (Numeric field) Enter up to four digits for the employee number.
Abbreviation: Enter up to five characters for the employee abbreviation. There are several places that accept the employee number or abbreviation. It's handy to be able to enter the abbreviation when you don't know the number off the top of your head. Try to use meaningful abbreviations such as initials, first name-last initial combinations, last name-first initial combinations, or nicknames.
Name: Enter the employee's full name.
Department: Enter the employee's department or press F1 to select a department from the lookup list.
Mechanic: Select this checkbox to indicate this employee is a mechanic. Some reports allow the option of printing information for all employees or only mechanics. If you choose to print only for mechanics, only employees flagged as mechanics will be included.
Class: Enter up to 12 characters to classify the employee as needed or press F1 to select a predetermined class. If the desired class is not listed, refer to the Employee Class section to add new classes.
Social Security Number: Enter the employee's social security number.
Password (Paperless Shop only): The employee password is used only if mechanics are required to enter a password to log into Paperless Shop (WPL). Passwords are required when the Password Prompt is set to YES in the "Paperless Shop" switch (SSM, switch 15). Leave this field blank if the Paperless Shop option is not used or if passwords are not required for Paperless logins; otherwise, enter up to six characters for the password.

Employee Record: General Information
Enter general information for the employee such as address, phone, emergency contact, birth date, and hire date.

No Email: This option is used for the add-on Messaging option. If this field is checked, the employee will not have access to the messaging module, and will not listed in the recipients list when other employees compose messages.

Employee Record: Productivity Tab
Productivity information isn't required when adding new employees nor is it required if you aren't tracking employee productivity. However, if you wish to enter productivity history, you may do so by pressing ALT+P or by clicking on the Productivity tab and then selecting the appropriate period radio button. Productivity statistics are automatically updated as jobs are assigned to mechanics, labor is posted to work orders, and end of period for mechanics is processed. Refer to "Mechanic Productivity" for more information.
Employee Record Field Descriptions: Wages Tab
To enter data in the Wages section, press ALT+W or click on the Wages tab. Other than wages, all of the fields in this section can be used as needed; they are not used nor updated by the RTA system.

Wage Type: Select a radio button to specify whether the wage or shop flat rate will be charged whenever this mechanic works on a vehicle (i.e., when labor is posted to work orders).
Wage Rates: Enter the wage rate or the flat rate, depending on the wage type selection--it's not necessary to enter both rates. To keep the hourly charge consistent, most fleets charge a flat, hourly shop rate. If this is the rate you will be using, you will need to compute the flat rate if your shop does not already have one. Some things to consider when computing the shop rate are vacations, benefits, training, and incentive programs. Including these fringe benefits in your calculations will better reflect what the actual per hour charge should be.
Alternate Wages: Enter up to five alternate wage descriptions and rates (e.g., overtime, holiday, shift differential, special certification). If the "Change Wage $" switch is set to YES (SSI, Miscellaneous I tab, switch 32), you'll have the ability to charge an alternate rate rather than the default rate when posting labor to work orders.

Employee Record: Certificates A and B Tabs
The Certificate A section stores the employee's driver's license information and training certifications; Certificate B stores additional training certifications. To enter data into these sections, press ALT+A or ALT+B or click on the desired tabs.
A Certification Expiration Report is available to monitor the status of employee certifications and to see which certifications are due for renewal (MMC)
Employee Record: User-Definables Tab
The User-Definables section allows additional employee data to be tracked as needed. Press ALT+D or click on the User Definables tabs to access these fields. Choose the Edit Descriptions button to customize the field labels.
Employee Record: Notes Toolbar Button
Any general notes about the employee may be recorded here.
Employee Record: Toolbox Toolbar Button
Displays the contents and allows editing the employee's toolbox (see Employee Toolbox).

Changing an Employee

To change an employee record, do the following:

Select Master > Employee > File Maintenance from the RTA main menu (MMM).
Enter password level 1.
Enter an employee number or press F1 to select an employee from the lookup list.
Make the changes as needed.
Save the record.

Renumbering an Employee

Although this option is rarely needed, a case in point might be when an mechanic is transferred to another department or is terminated, but you want to keep the employee records on file. Renumbering an employee does not affect work order or vehicle transaction history. If you end up reusing the old employee number for a new employee, be sure to note somewhere in your records the dates valid for the old employee so old transactions aren't mistaken as history for the new employee. To renumber an employee record, do the following:

Select System > Utilities > WOs > Renumber Employees from the RTA main menu (STWM).
Enter password level 1.
Enter the employee to renumber or press F1 to select an employee from the lookup list.
Enter the new employee number. If the employee number already exists, you'll be prompted to reenter the employee number.

Deleting an Employee

To delete an employee record, do the following: