The AS/400 could calculate accurate payroll inputs, but usefulness required a reliable interface into the separate payroll package—and continued maintenance whenever that package changed.
For part-time employees, the AS/400 calculated pay through to the amount. For full-time employees, salary values were restricted to the payroll staff, so the attendance system supplied only the necessary days, overtime, late-night premiums, and other base data.
Printing those values and keying them into another computer was exactly the operation I wanted to eliminate. It was slow, duplicated work, and created a fresh chance for error.
I obtained the import specification from the payroll-package vendor, learned HR’s procedure, and built the interface so the data could be transferred directly.
The challenge returned with every package upgrade for labor-law or tax changes. Specifications could be vague about whether zero meant 0, 0.000, or 000.000, yet the receiving program cared.
We kept adapting the AS/400 side so HR could continue working without re-entry. An attendance system becomes useful only when it connects to the rest of the operation without making people bridge the gap by hand.
CHAPTER 03 · PART 03 · EPISODE 10 / 10 STORIES · 35 STORIES TOTAL