In SAP HR (HCM), a Feature is a decision-making tool that helps the system automatically and determine values based on the employee or the organizational data. It is essentially a rule-based mechanism that reads the specific employee attributes, such as an employee group, personnel area, company code, employee subgroup, or country, and returns a corresponding value that SAP HR uses in various processes. Features make the HR processes more dynamic and flexible, avoiding the need to manually assign the values to each employee. Features are widely used in Personnel Administration, Payroll, and Time Management. For example, the ABKRS feature determines the payroll area of an employee based on their personnel area and the employee group, while TARIF is used to determine the pay scale type. Similarly, SCHKZ helps identify the appropriate work schedule rule, and LGMST determines the wage type model for an employee. By using features, SAP HR ensures that the correct default values are applied automatically during personnel actions, payroll processing, and time evaluation.
Purpose:
To make SAP HR dynamic and flexible.
To automatically assign values like payroll area, pay scale type, or work schedule.
To avoid hard-coding values for each employee.
Functionality:
Reads decision fields such as employee group, company code, personnel area, country, etc.
Uses a decision tree to evaluate conditions.
Returns a specific value that SAP HR uses in processing.
Common Examples:
ABKRS → Determines Payroll Area
TARIF → Determines Pay Scale Type
SCHKZ → Determines Work Schedule Rule
LGMST → Determines Wage Type Model
Where it is used:
Personnel actions (Hiring, Transfer)
Infotype defaulting
Payroll processing
Time management
Configuration:
Features are maintained using transaction PE03.
Can be customized in SPRO → Personnel Management → Payroll / Time Management → Features.
Key Characteristics:
Returns a value (not calculations)
Decision logic based on employee data
Dynamic and flexible
Works together with schemas and user exits
Example:
For a new hire in Germany, the ABKRS feature determines their payroll area automatically based on their personnel area and employee group.
ABKRS – Determines Payroll Area
Example: Employee in Personnel Area 1000 and Employee Group 1 → Payroll Area “M1”
TARIF – Determines Pay Scale Type/Area
Example: Permanent staff in Germany → Pay Scale Type “E”, Pay Scale Area “DE”
SCHKZ – Determines Work Schedule Rule
Example: Full-time employees → FTR01, Part-time employees → PTR01
LGMST – Determines Wage Type Model
Example: Sales department employees → Wage Type Model “SAL01”, Production → “PROD01”
PINCH – Determines Infotype Change Permissions
Example: HR admin can edit Infotype 0008 for permanent employees but not for contractors
PERSA – Determines Employee Subgroup
Example: Company Code 1000, Employee Group 1 → Employee Subgroup “Full-time Staff”
TMSTA – Determines Time Management Status
Example: Intern employees → Time Management Status “INTERN_TM”
SCLAS – Determines Shift Sequence / Work Schedule
Example: Factory workers in Department A → Shift Sequence “SHIFT_A”
Summary:
In SAP HR, a Feature is a rule-based tool that automatically determines values for employees based on attributes like personnel area, employee group, company code, or country. Features help automate HR processes by assigning defaults for payroll areas, pay scale types, work schedules, employee subgroups, and wage type models, reducing manual effort and ensuring consistency. Common examples include ABKRS for Payroll Area, TARIF for Pay Scale Type, SCHKZ for Work Schedule Rule, and LGMST for Wage Type Model. Features use decision trees to evaluate conditions and return values, making HR operations dynamic, accurate, and efficient.
