(Re)Capturing Time with SimpleCity Payroll Time & Attendance A Case Study - Hiawatha, KS

Running payroll is a process most cities dread. That was certainly the case for Hiawatha. They faced a number of challenges, including:

• A full workday in every two-week period was devoted to payroll processing
• Staff were unclear on how clocking in and out at odd times (7:48 am for example) was being recorded for payroll purposes
• Staff had to physically go to city hall to review their time cards or dispute discrepancies
• Supervisors, especially those outside of city hall where time records were kept, found it difficult to monitor the time worked for all their staff
• The PTO, vacation, and sick time process was unclear from start to finish, causing some frustration among employees
• Misunderstandings frequently happened as a result of handwritten notes being attached to time cards for a variety of reasons

Hiawatha decided it was time to improve their payroll situation and turned to gWorks. Our SimpleCity Payroll Time & Attendance module, designed specifically to meet the needs of municipal fund accounting and pay policy demands, was an excellent fit for what they were trying to accomplish. Payroll Time & Attendance is a web-based solution that interfaces with SimpleCity's Payroll Module. It allows employees to log their time from anywhere on any device with an internet connection. It automatically calculates overtime based on pay policies for each employee and simplifies the request and approval process for time off. 

Within days of the approval to move forward, SimpleCity Payroll Time & Attendance was implemented and rolled out to all city staff. There was no additional equipment to buy, and all staff were trained and using the software that same week. According to Tish Sims, Hiawatha City Clerk, their most significant challenge of the implementation was getting staff to bookmark the website to enter their time. Would you trade that for your biggest complaint about your current payroll process?

"The Payroll Time & Attendance module has not only improved the time devoted to processing payroll, but it also ensures that the employees are aware of their clocked hours and have to sign off on their time cards. The staff at gWorks personalized it to fit our specific needs. I am so pleased with the module." - Tish Sims, Hiawatha City Clerk

So how did this transition, from old process to new, pay off for the City of Hiawatha, KS? Here are just a few of the benefits:

• 75% reduction in payroll-associated staff time each month by eliminating many mandatory administrative tasks
• 50% reduction in paperwork associated with payroll
• 100% user adoption and buy-in from city staff
• Improved time records retention and recall
• Reduced chance for human error when entering and approving time, resulting in more accurate payroll and fewer disputes
• Increased transparency of available PTO, vacation, and sick time for all city staff
• Increased ease-of-use for requesting and approving PTO, vacation, and sick time
• Increased awareness of staff time worked for supervisors and administrative staff
• Improved communication with city administration staff regarding payroll through the use of the comment field in Time & Attendance
• Added convenience for employees who can track their hours in real-time anywhere
• Peace of mind for employees, supervisors, administrative staff, and the city commission, knowing that payroll will be accurate

Which part of this example most closely resembles your payroll process? Are you struggling with excessive paperwork and seemingly redundant entry and approval processes? What could be accomplished at your municipality by recapturing 75% of the hours you are now devoting to payroll? SimpleCity Payroll Time & Attendance was designed and developed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of every aspect of the payroll process for local governments. Let us show you how we can get you (pay)rolling in the right direction!

Please note: Payroll Time & Attendance has been replaced by TimeTracker, and is part of HR Hub,