Frequently Asked Questions Follow

Topics Covered
Common Questions

Target Users
All Users

Required Permissions
n/a

FAQs for Overseas Awards System

ADG would like to share some common questions we receive from our HR Administrators of OAS at Post. Many of the LE Awards Coordinators and HROs will have the same questions as you work through your first cycle of OAS. 

Where do we ask for guidance or find help?

ADG provides support through several methods.

1. First, check your Teams channel. If you are going through the initial deployment process, feel free to post your questions in the Teams channel. Also, we have uploaded files to your Mission's private Teams channel. You have resource documents which can be found under the Files tab. There are several folders with descriptions: OAS Manuals, Setup SOP, Powerpoint Presentations, Sample Management Notices, User Guides, and Recordings of all trainings provided to Post by ADG.
2. Another option would be to search the ADG Support Articles. We maintain a Knowledge Center which houses all of our reference materials to include links for specific subjects as well as all Application Release Notes.
3. The last option is to submit a support ticket to ADG-Support@state.gov.

Help! I can't find an LE Staff employee in OAS.  How can we add a profile for this employee in OAS?

First, please remember it is not possible to add an LE Staff employee directly to OAS or GoMBC.  All LE Staff profiles are created by a data feed from OPS to GoMBC. There is no other way to add LE Staff profiles. This scenario occurs usually after an LE Staff member is hired. There is generally an issue with the Personnel Action processed in OPS, often times there is an empty data field or there is incorrect information on the Personnel Action.  

We are trying to add a USDH Supervisor profile in OAS and we are receiving an error message which says "Email Already in Use."

This error message indicates the employee already has either a GoMBC or OAS account at another Post. ADG has system admin access to find accounts from any mission and transfer them to the current Post. Once we transfer the account to your Post, you will be able to update the information. If you need assistance, please submit a ticket via email to ADG-Support@state.gov.

A Nominator informed HR they submitted a nomination and we can't find the nomination in the HR Area > HR Pending list. 

Remember that the Nominator will always be able to view the status of a nomination once it's submitted by the Nominator. First, check the USDH Pending queue under the HR Area. This is where you can find nominations which have been submitted by a Nominator, but they have not yet reached HR Pending. You can also find the nomination under the Ongoing queue in HR Admin. 

Post HR and FMC have decided to change the award allocations per award type category. When can we do this?

Award amounts are allocated by HR from the HR Pending queue. Once Annual Awards leave the HR Pending queue, they will travel to the JCAC Area for voting. The first opportunity to change the award amount will be when the nominations are ready for sign off in the JCAC Sign Off queue. The JCAC Chair will be able to change the amount allocated before signing off on the nomination. The last step in the process to change the award amount is when the nominations reach the EXEC queue. The EXEC or their proxy will need to make the change before signing off on the nomination. Once the EXEC has signed off, HR can return the nomination to HR Pending from the Ongoing queue under HR Area until the nomination is sent to OPS. This will reroute the nomination and all the approvals and fiscal data entered will be erased from the nomination. Once the nomination is sent to OPS for processing, Post HR will need to submit a ticket with GTM to recall the action. 

Our user cannot access Okta, their account has been suspended, deactivated, or they are locked out, what do we tell them? 

For each instance listed above, the user will need to submit a ticket to ASG-Support@state.gov, we have a team of ADG members who can quickly resolve these issues. ***Emailing specific ADG team members may slow down your resolution.

What do  we do when a USDH transfers from Post?

When your USDH employees transfer from Post, ADG recommends making all USDH profile transfers in GoMBC. Post HR is responsible for transferring the USDH Supervisor's employees to a new Rating, Reviewing, and Pool Supervisor once any pending documents are closed. If your post has not implemented GoMBC, you can make the transfer in OAS once Post HR has verified there are no pending actions for the USDH employee. 

One of our JCAC Members or our JCAC Chair needs to be replaced.  How can we change or remove someone?

To change or remove a JCAC Member, you will need to edit the cycle they are assigned to and click on the "X" next to their name. This will remove them from the JCAC for this cycle. Removing a JCAC member will remove all nominations they have not voted on from their queue. You can add another member to replace the JCAC member you removed, however, keep in mind this will affect the votes which have not yet been signed off by the chair. All votes pending JCAC Chair Sign Off will require the new JCAC member to enter their vote before the nominations can be signed off. This will change the status for nominations ready for sign off to "Pending." If the JCAC doesn't need the new JCAC member to vote on nominations which have received all other votes, then the JCAC Chair can sign off on all nominations ready for sign off and you can then add the new JCAC Member. 

Post HR can add or remove a JCAC Chair at any time. You may also choose to create a pool of JCAC Chairs, depending on the volume of your awards. The JCAC Chair can either assign themself a proxy to act on their behalf or the HRO can assign the proxy for them. The HRO has the ability to sign-in as any role within OAS.

An Anytime Award was sent to finance for fiscal data without being routed to any approvers, what happened?

Please be aware it is possible to send an Anytime Award to completion without any approvals if HR does not select approvers before pressing Save & Submit. OAS does have a warning message stating that HR needs to approve before the action is completed.

How do we temporarily assign a supervisor so we can process awards when a USDH supervisor is unreachable?

If a USDH Supervisor is not available and there are nominations pending, HR can either sign-in on behalf of the supervisor and take action, or you can temporarily assign a USDH Supervisor. You will do this in the Org Admin Area->Manage Employees. You can then assign the USDH Supervisor for the LE staff the same as you would for the USDH employee profiles. Once the action is completed, you will need to change the USDH Supervisor back to the old supervisor.

How do we process payments for LE Staff awards in OAS?

Currently, this is a two step process, first you will create the mass update in OPS when you assign a date to send the nominations to OPS for processing. The HRO and FMO will need to approve the mass updates in OPS. Then the awards payment cable will be sent to CGFS. Post HR or FMC (depending on whomever sends the cable) will then attach the Finance Report from OAS which includes all of the fiscal data required by CGFS.

Can we turn off email notifications from OAS?

Everyone who has a Mission Role assigned can turn off their email notifications by clicking the arrow next to their name in the upper right hand corner. Users will know if they are able to turn off their email notifications because this will be an option in the dropdown menu. The HRO can always sign in on behalf of the JCAC Chair and EXEC to turn off their emails.

The EXEC's proxy is unable to view the EXEC & MGT Area to take action.  Why can't they see these options when they sign in?

When signing in as a proxy, the user will need to click the arrow next to their name in the upper right hand corner. The dropdown menu will have the option of "Proxy User."  They should click this option to act as the proxy. Once "Proxy User" is selected, the menu will change to display all the roles assigned to a user who gave their proxy. The name will change at the top saying "User's Name is signed in on behalf of the user who gave their proxy." To stop using the proxy function, the user will need to click the arrow next to their name and "Select stop sign in on behalf of."

For additional help, please contact ISC at Post or ADG Support by selecting the ‘Submit a request’ button at the top of the page or by emailing adg-support@state.gov.
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