In 2013, the Forest Service Washington Office Fire and Aviation Management (WO-FAM) Branch Chief for Fire Training worked with IQCS and Forest Service Human Resource Management (HRM) to add the EmpowHR ID field to IQCS. The purpose of adding EmpowHR ID to IQCS was to create the cross-connectivity between IQCS, HRM, and USDA databases. The EmpowHR ID is the unique identifier that is common to all the databases employed by the agency and Department. The EmpowHR ID was selected since it is not Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and has no use outside of agency databases.
The EmpowHR ID is not a mandatory field for FS employees. All career, career-seasonal, and temporary employees have an EmpowHR ID and this needs to be entered into IQCS. Administratively Determine (AD) employees are exempt from this requirement. ADs need to have their status in IQCS shown as “Casuals” in order to be excluded from the EmpowHR ID requirement.
To remind account managers of missing EmpowHR numbers, a pop-up reminder screen will notify you that the responder record is missing their EmpowHR ID.
Information on USDA EmpowHR can be found here. https://www.empowhr.gov/
SharePoint site for USDA employees to look up an EMPOWHR number: General HRM Reports and Data - Home (sharepoint.com)
Individual employees can access their EmpowHR ID using their E-Auth access in Dashboards/ConnectHR https://usdafs.connecthr.com/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f From the Connect HR webpage, click on the “My Profile” button on the right side. You are now viewing your personal profile and the EmpowHR ID is shown. All that is needed for IQCS is the 6 digit numerical ID. The first two digits are the person’s initials. The initials are not needed for IQCS.
To ensure that new hires to the Forest Service (temporary or permanent) can access their EmpowHR ID, supervisors and employees have the following process to follow. Within seven days of an applicant accepting the official job offer the Personnel Action Request Office (PAR) will create the unique EmpowHR ID for that employee. Once the EmpowHR ID is created, the new hire will receive an email with instructions to setup their E-Authentication username and password. E-Auth is required to complete E-forms, setup direct deposit, W4, and I-9 that are required for employees new to federal service and the Forest Service.
- Once the supervisor has confirmation that the employee has accepted the offer, the supervisor can work with the new hire to establish their E-Authentication user name and password.
- Once the E-Authentication is setup, the Supervisor can work with the new hire to access their profile on Connect HR (see above) to obtain their EmpowHR ID prior to their first workday.
Training data has been migrated to AgLearn, IQCS will continue to track training, experience, generate reports, and generate incident qualification cards. Periodic updates to AgLearn will begin in mid-July 2016 and occur behind the scenes.
Additional Questions? Contact the USFS IQCS Agency Lead
Updated 10/06/2021