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Purpose

This process addresses the electronic Personnel Effort Reporting System (ePER) certification for employees who separate mid-semester and/or are unable to certify the ePER generated after they leave the university.

Background

The purpose of certifying ePERs is to provide assurance to the sponsor that the effort being put into a project matches the effort paid by Sponsored Project funding.  

The University of Colorado uses an online after-the-fact certification system called the electronic Personnel Effort Reporting System (ePERS) to provide accurate and reasonable documentation to the sponsoring agency regarding the distribution of effort expended by an employee on a sponsored project. According to our current ePER policy, an ePER must be certified within 120 calendar days from the initial ePER email notification.  Campus Controllers Office (CCO) holds authority to move to the Departmental Administration Indirect Cost Recovery (DA-ICR) FOPPS any salary expense from projects for which corresponding effort has not been certified within the required 120-day timeframe.

Guidelines

1. Each individual working on a sponsored project is responsible for completing their own ePER in a timely and accurate manner.  Principal investigators (PIs) are also responsible to ensure that every individual working on the PI’s sponsored project has submitted an ePER within 120 calendars days from the initial ePER email notification. Administrative units will also work with PI’s and individuals that charge effort on sponsored projects to facilitate timely submission. 
2. All departments should assist employees working on sponsored projects by providing information about ePERs when they start their employment and remind them before a separation to submit any outstanding ePERs. Any remaining uncertified ePERs may result in non-compliance for our university in which case those expenses would be considered unallowable. As a best practice, departments should perform a monthly review of outstanding to avoid overdue certifications.
3. The University generates ePERs three times a year (June, September, January) after each semester ends . When an employee separates from the University prior to end of the ePER semester, departments should request contact information to get in touch with the employee when the ePER has been generated.  In addition, departments should run a payroll register for that semester for the employee to verify the funding distribution matches the pay and the effort that the employee put on the Sponsored Project(s) before the employee’s departure.  This can be used as an attachment/backup to the ePER if the employee and PI are not available to complete the ePERs, and someone else must certify the ePER on their behalf. 
4. Employees who work on sponsored projects are required to certify their own ePERs. However, there may be instances where a supervisor or PI has a better understanding of how an employee spent his or her time on a sponsored project or an individual is no longer with CU �鶹ӰԺ. In such circumstances, a PI or supervisor who has first-hand knowledge of how the employee spent his or her time during the reporting period may certify an ePER on behalf of the employee. The employee’s direct payroll supervisor is able to log into the ePER Supervisor portal online to certify the ePER. If someone else is certifying on behalf of the employee, please reach out to epers@colorado.edu for a PDF version of the ePER to sign electronically and return. The ePERs team will then log into the ePER portal, certify the ePER, and  save the signed copy for audit purposes. 
5. If an individual or PI/supervisor is not available to certify the ePER, an individual having direct first-hand knowledge of the employee’s effort, or suitable means of verification that the work was performed, may certify.
   1. “Suitable means of verification” is a documented review of records in support of work performed. Some examples of these records might include timesheets, calendars, teaching schedules, logbooks, task checklists, lab records, or sponsor budgets. Other means of verification may also be sufficient, including emails that demonstrate the effort made based on first-hand information or a review of appropriate means of verification.  A lab supervisor or other manager who has knowledge of the employees' time can certify the ePERs.
6. If neither the employee nor the PI/supervisor is with the University when the ePER becomes due, the chair or director will need to provide the certification.  If this is the case, please reach out to epers@colorado.edu to obtain a PDF via email of the ePER certification that can be approved and signed electronically.  CCO will submit the electronic certification and retain the department approval for audit purposes.