Importing Data - Will our data work with PayEval?

The data to be used in PayEval needs to be in a particular format. Most Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) allow the user to export all or part of the employee database. This is done by a direct data export utility or through the various reporting options contained in these systems. These are unique to each system and should be extracted by an experienced user. PayEval currently accepts HRIS data in the following formats:

• Microsoft® Access databases (*.mdb)
  
• Microsoft® Excel workbooks (*.xls)
  
• Text files (*.txt, *.csv, *.asc, *.tab)
  
• Stata® databases (*.dta)
  
• XML files (*.xml)

  More about compatible file types

Snapshot or Transactional Data - Which do I need?

Although data for HRISs can be entered and stored in various ways, the data needed for several of PayEval's analyses needs to be a reflection of the workforce composition at a specified date. This is often called a "snapshot" database format. A snapshot database contains one entry per employee and includes all of the relevant information for that employee as of the snapshot date (for consistency, it is preferable that the snapshot date be the same for all employees in the database; otherwise, it needs to be included in each data entry as the effective date).

Select a Practice Area to find out what kind of data is required

Data Fields - How many do I need to perform an effective analysis?

Although there are a number of different data fields that may be stored in HRISs, there are a number of characteristics that are typically available. Some common characteristics included in the snapshot for a particular employee should include: employee id, first, middle, and last name, race/ethnicity, gender, birth date. These data fields identify the employee but are not linked to his or her current occupation or place of work. Employee characteristics that are particular to the current work environment might include: department, division, branch, location, etc. Job-specific characteristics might be: job title, job group, EEO code, full-time/part-time, permanent/temporary, activity status, hire date, adjusted hire date, termination date, job date, grade date, FLSA exemption status, salary/hourly, pay grade, base salary, bonuses, commissions, total compensation, hours worked, etc. Some additional fields that might be included are: previous experience, performance information (last performance date, rating, rank, discipline, etc.), education level, etc.

Select a Practice Area to find out what kind of data fields are required