How should authorizations for personnel actions be documented?
The best practice is to use email for notification of approval for initiating a given personnel/payroll action in OPUS. Email approval notifications are provided by central offices and require that these notifications be pasted into the “notes” section of OPUS, allowing the approval to be included in the PERM. It is recommended that departments also use email to document approvals for making changes that affect an employee’s payroll status, including changes in distributions. Email approval notifications that are pasted into OPUS should contain the address, date, and sender in addition to the approval message text. Example: A PI wants to pay an employee on a grant for a specified period of time. The PI sends an email to the department administrator requesting the desired action. The email request would serve as the authorization for the action to be implemented in OPUS. The email should be pasted into the “notes” section of OPUS, which would then show up in the PERM. These comments can
