City of Orlando Minimizes Compliance Risk and Improves Workforce Productivity with Kronos^® Solution

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Orlando, Florida, is one of the top tourist destinations in the United States, with world-famous attractions that include Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. The city’s theme and water parks attract up to 50 million visitors a year, keeping Orlando’s public works, police, fire, and other municipal departments busy meeting the needs of visitors, as well as those of nearly 240,000 residents. To address seasonal demands, the city increases its workforce in the summer. Responding to the effects of hurricanes and tropical storms sometimes adds to the city’s responsibilities in the summer and fall.

“Being able to configure things [in Kronos] to match our organizational changes is easy. All of the information is centralized in one place, and we can get detailed information when we need it.” - Rosa Akhtarkhavari, Chief Information Officer and Chief Security Officer

SUMMARY

CHALLENGES

• Timesheets were manually certified by employees and signed by a supervisor or an authorized payroll representative, sometimes located in a different area, causing delays and potential errors
• Lack of real-time visibility of employee time created an environment for potential unauthorized absences and overtime
• Varying supervisor interpretations of work rules, policies, and procedures made consistent application difficult and caused compliance concerns
• Accurately reporting employee time for disaster response efforts for FEMA reimbursement or grant reporting was challenging and time-consuming

SOLUTION

• An automated and centralized time and attendance system that quickly and accurately tracks employee time and consistently applies work and pay rules across all departments

BENEFITS

• Automated employee time tracking has streamlined the payroll process and eliminated frequent payroll adjustments
• A reduction in unauthorized absences and overtime, as well as in staffing needed to handle timekeeping and payroll adjustments, has helped control labor costs
• Changes in work rules and policies are implemented easily in the automated system and applied consistently with all affected employees, mitigating compliance issues
• Real-time visibility of employees’ time enables supervisors to make better decisions on overtime assignments and shift coverage
• Staff time responding to natural disasters is easily tracked for fast, accurate FEMA reimbursement, as is tracking time for grant allocations and capital improvement project chargebacks

THE STORY – City of Orlando

Manually managing the city of Orlando’s time and labor information was a challenge. The 3,200 full-time and seasonal employees at more than 200 locations manually certified their timesheets before a supervisor or authorized payroll clerk — sometimes in a different location — approved each one. Data gathered during this time-consuming process often required adjustments. Approximately 90 percent of the workforce is unionized. Work rules, policies, and procedures are well-documented, but varying supervisor interpretations created inconsistencies.

Recognizing the need for a centralized, automated timekeeping solution to overcome these issues, the city of Orlando implemented the Kronos Workforce Central® suite. By automating the tracking of employee time with Workforce Timekeeper, the city has improved productivity by streamlining the process and reducing payroll adjustments. It has also controlled labor costs by decreasing unauthorized absences and overtime and reducing payroll staff. And, with all work and pay rules automatically applied consistently across the workforce, compliance is no longer a concern.

Automated system eliminates compliance issues

All employees in the city’s 12 departments, from garbage collectors to the mayor’s staff, use Workforce Timekeeper. The Kronos solution manages employees’ time and labor and interfaces with Infinium for payroll, ABI for scheduling, and SunPro for rostering 24-hour departments such as fire.

Complying with several different union contracts and applicable policies was a driver for the move to automated timekeeping. Before, when changes in legislation, union contracts, or policies were made, the city’s 400 managers didn’t always interpret changes the same way. Now, whenever union contracts or policies are revised, changes are made in the Kronos solution — eliminating misinterpretations and mitigating compliance concerns.

“When rules, policies, and procedures change, the city needs to react fast to make changes in the payroll system,” notes Rosa Akhtarkhavari, CIO and chief security officer. “Being able to configure things [in Kronos] to match our organizational changes is easy. All of the information is centralized in one place, and we can get detailed information when we need it.”

The system’s real-time reporting capabilities provide easy access to workforce information for preparing projections, tracking trends, and providing detailed data for union grievance cases, which have decreased since the Kronos implementation. Also, prior concerns about compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act have been alleviated with the addition of Kronos Workforce Leave to consistently apply leave policies.

Real-time workforce data visibility improves decision making

Although change can be difficult, the fire and police chiefs saw the value of moving to an automated workforce management system and mandated the change. The city phased in implementation, trained supervisors, and used online communication to enhance acceptance.

For compliance reporting on total hours worked, the police department tracks officers’ regular on-duty hours and their offduty hours working at community venues. Supervisors have greater awareness of where employees spend their time, and employees can view their time in the system.

“Now sergeants can look at the location, overtime assignments, and shift coverage,” says Akhtarkhavari. “Having the right tools and information at their fingertips allows them to make better decisions.” Overtime allocation has significantly improved.

Easy tracking and allocation of employee hours

Following a hurricane or tropical storm, the city uses Workforce Timekeeper to track law enforcement, fire department, public works, and parks and recreation staff time that is eligible for FEMA reimbursement. With consistent data and agreement between budgeting and reporting numbers, the city is reimbursed quickly and accurately, notes Akhtarkhavari.

The automated timekeeping system also allows the city to easily allocate charges for hours worked or overtime to different business units. In addition, by integrating labor-level information, the city has accurate data when tracking hours for grant reimbursements and capital improvement project cost chargebacks.

Easy to own, easy to use

Working with Kronos, city of Orlando IT staff implemented the automated solution and did all payroll configurations on its own. The benefits, says Akhtarkhavari, have been cost savings and being able to quickly implement system changes following union contract negotiations.

Advice for other municipalities

For cities looking to automate workforce management, Akhtarkhavari recommends reviewing and updating rules and policies first. “You need to understand the rules, or automation won’t work for you,” she explains. “You have to have your policies in order and understand them.” Then, your Kronos solution can make workforce management easier, while improving compliance.