The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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December 7, 2011

City to implement new timekeeping system

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — The city of Enid will implement a new electronic timekeeping program officials believe will make the city more efficient and save on operating costs.

The city approved a new comprehensive workforce management program from Kronos Inc. to control labor costs, minimize compliance requirements and improve workforce productivity. According to information from Christine Carmichael, of Kronos International, labor costs represent one of the largest controllable expenses for local governments.

Finance Director Jerald Gilbert said the new system will allow the city to more accurately schedule employees, particularly with respect to public safety scheduling, which is complex. The new system also will make sure the city is covered for safety needs.

Previously, the city used a manual time-card system for everyone. Employees wrote down their daily time. With the new system, employees will use one of three programs, either time clock, web entry or a telephone program method. The system will more accurately keep time. Gilbert believes it will generate personnel savings and accurate payrolls. He said the city researched other Kronos users, including St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and other Oklahoma communities.

The city sent a number of requests for proposals, but only received three bids, Gilbert said. Those bids were from Kronos, $124,000 base bid; Workglow, $135,400 base bid; and ADP, $185,215 base bid.

In addition, the city purchased the Telestaff system for public safety at a cost of $68,650 after accepting the Kronos bid, Gilbert said. The total price paid to Kronos is $193,650. Kronos was the only company offering the system for public safety, Gilbert said.

The city has between 500 and 520 employees in 31 departments. Instead of each department completing manual time cards, each day employees will punch in and out using one of the three methods. When payroll time comes, payroll department employees will pull the timekeeping file and use that to pay from. There will be no time checking and reviewing time cards, Gilbert said.

The new system will be in place Jan. 1, although the old system may be kept in place while testing is ongoing, he said.

“We have an old, outdated, manual time-card system. People write their time on the card every day. People sometimes don’t write it down accurately, or forget. There is also the productivity of the payroll person. It takes a day and a half to make sure all amounts are correct,” Gilbert said.

“We did it to save time in calculating and rechecking.”

Supervisors should save time reviewing employees time cards, he said. It is another opportunity to use technology to make everyone more productive and accountable, Gilbert said, which makes the city more accountable to the public.

“Over a two-year period, we think the savings will pay for it,” Gilbert said.

Carmichael said Kronos will help the city pay employees on time and comply with federal fair labor standards requirements. She said the automation will free up 30 percent of the payroll administrator’s time to focus on higher-value activities.

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