PBJ (Payroll-Based Journal) Reporting is a requirement set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for long-term care (LTC) facilities, such as nursing homes, to electronically submit detailed staffing and census information. The purpose of PBJ Reporting is to promote transparency and improve the quality of care in these facilities by tracking staff hours and resident census data, ensuring adequate staffing levels for the proper care of residents.
To support PBJ Reporting within Empeon's Time and Attendance Module, the system tracks all necessary data for these reports. Users can generate PBJ reports directly through the system, ensuring the correct information is compiled and properly formatted for submission to CMS. To have the time and attendance system support PBJ reporting, there are a couple backend, company-level settings that need to be established.
To view and maintain these settings, navigate to the Attendance section of the Company tab and select the PBJ Settings Card.
Within the PBJ Settings, four key pieces of information need to be registered:
- State Code - The state that the facility is located in.
- Unique ID - The CMS Certification Number (CCN) assigned to the facility.
- Job Code CC Level - Since CMS allows for reporting by either Positions or Departments, the Cost Center assigned here should reflect one of these categories.
- Use Company Rounding Rule - The system will use CMS's required rounding chart by default, however, you are able to override this setting and use your company's rounding rules (defined in your Time Rules - Company > Attendance > Time Rules) before calculating PBJ hours if needed. The company rounding rules allow for two decimal places.
Please note there are additional steps that are required within the assigned Cost Center to ensure the time and attendance system codes this correctly within the PBJ report. Within the assigned Cost Center, each Department or Position, depending on the Cost Center that is assigned in the PBJ Settings, will have an additional field within its configuration for PBJ Department.
This field includes a dropdown menu containing the full list of PBJ codes, which must be assigned appropriately for each registered Department or Position (again, depending on which CC is assigned).
Additionally, all employees must be assigned a PBJ Employee Type to indicate whether they are Exempt (salaried), Non-Exempt (hourly), or Contract (agency) workers. This designation can be set in two places: at the Employment Type level for consistency across similar roles, or individually within the employee’s profile.
To update it at a company level, navigate to Company > HR > Employment Status > Employment Types and assign the PBJ Employee type that is associated with each Employment Type.
From there, make sure you have the Employment Type filled in on the employee's profile (People > HR > Employment Status).
To update it per employee, navigate to the Attendance section on the Clock Settings card in the Employee Profile and locate the PBJ Employee Type field.
If an employee has a PBJ Exempt value defined on their individual profile, the system will respect that specific setting. However, if the field is not set at the employee level, the system will look to the assigned Employment Type and apply the PBJ Exempt value from there. If neither of these sources defines the value, the system will default the employee to Non-Exempt.
Once your PBJ Settings are configured, you can process the report each quarter. For guidance in PBJ Reporting Processing, view the Time & Attendance: PBJ Reporting article.
For additional assistance when changing any of the PBJ Settings, or guidance with significant adjustments being made to these settings, please contact Empeon Customer Support.