In my RD30 record > Under 'More Information' tab > Additional Attributes > my PORTALROLE value = empdef.xml.

Now, recently we reactivated the ESS tool for Open Enrollment preparation/testing, and users were reporting back that they were getting "error - INITIALIZING" after logging in. You can click "ok" and it goes away without affecting anything on the Portal.

As a test on my acct - I removed the empdef.xml, and the error went away? It did not change the layout or anything. I did do a IOSCacheRefresh, but I am not sure who developed this empdef.xml - but, I also do not know the significance.