County wants better work-hour tracking

Local News

OTHER ACTION

Franklin County legislators also:

— Allowed for the hiring of a temporary person for a charge-nurse position at the Nursing Home through an agreement approved by the United Public Service Employees Union.

— Authorized County Clerk Wanda Murtagh to increase the petty-cash fund at the Saranac Lake satellite office of the Department of Motor Vehicles from $100 to $200 to comply with a recommendation from the state DMV auditors.

— Appointed Noel Prellwitz, Daniel Steidl and Dr. Charles Gibbs to four-year terms on the Rainbow Lake Water Protection Board, to expire Feb. 16, 2016.

— Reappointed Mary Shantie to a three-year term on the Franklin County Traffic Safety Board, to expire Feb. 14, 2015; and Sue Ellen Tupia to a three-year term on the same board, to expire March 1, 2015.

— Reappointed Dean Lefebvre to a three-year term on the Franklin County Solid Waste Management Authority, to expire Dec. 31, 2015.

— Passed a resolution urging New York representatives to hold the state's election primary on June 26, the same date as the federal primary, to avoid additional costs to local taxpayers.

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February 9, 2012

Franklin County plans to get more out of time-card system

DENISE A. RAYMO Press-Republican The Press Republican Thu Feb 09, 2012, 02:28 AM EST

MALONE — Franklin County will phase payroll data into its time-card system to better track employee work and transition to all-electronic reporting.

Legislators bought the computer programming three years ago and use it for time-card reports for employee work hours.

But County Manager Thomas Leitz said it can do more, like melding payroll and attendance together so the county has a better handle on who's working what hours when.

"Payroll is $20 million, and we want to make sure we're getting $20 million worth of work out of the staff," he said.

FEWER PAPER REPORTS

"We weren't using (the computer system) to its full capabilities," Leitz said, but integrating the two data streams should eliminate paper reporting that can slow processing down.

Employees' daily work information is also tied to data that department heads supply on vacation, sick and personal time that their workers use.

ACCURACY

A majority of county employees are paid for a 35-hour work week.

But if people forget to log in or log out, there is no accurate record of their hours worked.

"We have 400-plus hourly employees and no clear proof that someone is on the job," Leitz said.

Training on the new data system begins for certain departments on Feb. 17, but some offices won't be brought on until mid to late April.

COMPLICATIONS

Leitz said that more work is needed on how best to fold in per-diem employees and those working at the County Jail, Emergency Services Office and the Nursing Home, which are 24-hour, seven-day-a-week sites.

The same goes for on-call Public Health nurses and caseworkers with Child Protective Services, who often are in and out and on call.

Some of those workers will be allowed to dial in to log their work hours if they start or end their work day close to home.

That way, the county does not have to pay them mileage to drive back into Malone or Saranac Lake to report their work hours, Leitz said.

That option is not open to everyone, and some users may be able to have their supervisors log them in and out, but those will be limited cases, as well, he said.

Email Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com