human resources information system hand scanner project
TRANSCRIPT
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 1 “The Best of Everything”
Abstract
Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation promotes better quality of life for Palm Beach County
residents and visitors by providing diverse, safe and affordable recreation services, welcoming
parks, and enriching social and cultural experiences. In collaboration with Parks and Recreation,
the Palm Beach County IT Department, Information System Services (ISS) designed, developed,
and supported a state-of-the-art and easy-to-use Hand Scan module in Human Resources
Information System (HRIS) that replaces NOVAtime, a timekeeping product developed by a
software vendor which was used by Parks and Recreation department to interface with third
party biometric device to record employee time in and out. The in-house ISS team also
significantly augmented existing Time Attendance System (TAS) module of HRIS to robustly
manage time data. This solution has allowed Parks and Recreation department to eliminate
NOVAtime software support and licensing costs of $16,000 annually, maintain use of biometric
devices previously acquired, and to efficiently and accurately process employees' time in/out for
timekeeping and payroll purposes.
The Need for the Program
Parks and Recreation department relied on HandPunch biometric product series manufactured
by Schlage to account for employees' attendance via hand punches and on NOVAtime to perform
time audits and approval. The department has many remote locations that are best served using
web-connected devices to account for employees’ attendance. However, growing software
licensing cost, inconsistent support and workflow inefficiencies from vendors motivated the
department to contact ISS for a solution.
Workflow inefficiencies included:
• Inconsistent time and pay records;
• Cumbersome employee hand template registration and enrollment to devices;
• No accurate, up-to-date time information, approvals, and audits;
• Duplication of records across disparate systems; and,
• Difficulties in retro-pay processing.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 2 “The Best of Everything”
Program Description
Hand Scan module of HRIS
Hand Scan module is developed by ISS to interface with HandPunch biometric product series
manufactured by Schlage. The module is developed with friendly user interface incorporating UX
(User Experience) design that is functional, effective and visually pleasing. Staying with
enterprise-grade technology that is compliant with W3C standard, this module is web-based and
viewable in any web browser and in any device.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 3 “The Best of Everything”
Hand Scan module is also a result of modernization process of current HRIS application that
provides a foundation for upcoming HRIS 2.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 4 “The Best of Everything”
Using Hand Scan module, staff may register employee's hand geometry (templates) using any
available device nearby and register that employee to authorized work locations, all in a matter
of seconds.
Audit logs captures employee hand template registration, device enrollments, device
activations, device assignment, user id, and date time stamps. Logs may be exported to Excel or
PDF format.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 5 “The Best of Everything”
Attendance Log provides time-saving search capability with such parameters as department,
employee ID, employee names, employee position, division, device location, device asset ID,
and dates.
Results of attendance log search consist of employee name, employee ID, department, division,
device serial number, device asset number and location and hand punch date time, all of which
may be exported to Excel and/or PDF format.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 6 “The Best of Everything”
Various device management tasks, such as device addition/removal/update in network, platen
sensor sensitivity adjustment, and local date & time syncing, are all conveniently done by using
Hand Scan module. There are built-in search functionality in each screen to accommodate
filtering and for added convenience. Search results may be exported to Excel and/or PDF format.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 7 “The Best of Everything”
Searchable error logs and email notifications are also provided to empower staff to
troubleshoot quickly or escalate support request, therefore minimizing downtime. Logs may be
exported to Excel and/or PDF format.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 8 “The Best of Everything”
Time Attendance System (TAS) module of HRIS
Time records from devices are collected in a 5-minute interval into its own repository and into
TAS module, providing accurate and up-to-the-minute employee data. Staff may audit employee
time records via Attendance Log located in Hand Scan module or via time card in TAS module.
TAS time card displays employee attendance in/out punches, corresponding locations, approval
(routing) history, comments, time card status, paid hours, as well as supervisory/admin approval
tasks.
Built-in audit logs in TAS module can be utilized to track approvals, edits, adjustments, and
comments.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 9 “The Best of Everything”
TAS module also enables supervisory staff to review, edit, and approve employees’ time cards
grouped by pay periods.
TAS Search functionality allows supervisors and admin staff to search time records using such
parameters as name, id, job title, dates, locations, departments, time card status, missed punch,
employee attributes (permanent, payroll ID, terminated), and audit history.
The corresponding search results that consist of employee ID, employee name, payroll ID,
employee’s supervisor, work date, clock-in, clock-in location, clock-out, clock-out location, paid
hours, and time card status can conveniently be filtered according to resulting columns, and
exportable to Excel, or printed for further processing.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 10 “The Best of Everything”
The Cost of the Program
ISS jointly specified functionalities and workflow of HRIS Hand Scan and TAS modules with the
Parks and Recreation department. The ISS in-house team of dedicated developers, project
managers, and testers then further performed extensive research during design and
development phases to ensure system interconnectivity, stability and to ensure enterprise
technology maturity and relevancy; and carried out a thorough testing phase and staff training
to assure seamless and smooth incremental rollout process over the course of 6 months. Existing
development tools and HRIS application framework were used without the need to purchase
additional software and hardware. Parks and Recreation department was also able to extend the
useful life of Schlage HandPunch assets.
Results/Success of the Program
Since HRIS Hand Scan and TAS modules went operational in 2019, the application has received
numerous compliments from Parks and Recreation department staff and employees who are
using the system on a 24 hours / 7 day a week basis. The modules effectively reduce Parks &
Recreation's operational cost of $16,000 annually and improves efficiency and internal customer
service while also providing the following additional benefits:
• Provides detailed reports for calculating labor costs.
• Resolves disputes relating to time records.
• Calculates retro-pay adjustments to prior pay periods.
• Saves time to maintain and support time-keeping activities.
• Integrates into existing county payroll process and business rules.
Human Resources Information System Hand Scanner Project
Palm Beach County, Florida Page 11 “The Best of Everything”
Palm Beach County’s mission is to continually improve the quality of services provided to our
customers:
• All aspects of the Program are consistent with acceptable governmental and financial
management practices. HRIS application promotes general accountability to the public
by reducing costs and streamlining business processes.
• The development done by internal staff using existing tools, framework, and devices
make this system an especially cost effective implementation.
• The ability to integrate into Palm Beach County's enterprise workforce solution to help
manage time from point-of-entry to paycheck for all 35 county departments.
• The web-based application employs enterprise-grade technology and is viewable in any
web browser and in any device.
• The state-of-the-art system provides county employees various practical functionalities
to emphasize dependability, traceability, and transparency, which has gained approval
and recommendation from county's Human Resources department.