The original price tag the city paid in 2003 was around $650,000 to get the system up and running. Gaytko said he doesn’t foresee any other measurable expenses.
The main reason time clocks are being implemented is to get all city employees on a uniformed payroll system, he said. Some departments, like water, have been using time clocks since 2003.
Police union President Randy Beane said the time clocks must be a negotiated item in the union’s contract and if implemented, will cost the city “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in overtime.
“We’re tired of taking it from the city on things like this,” Beane said. “We have a lot of dedicated officers who come in early and stay late and don’t claim that time. If the city is going to start tracking it, it is going to cost them. Big time.”
Assistant Police Chief Wanda Smith said federal law prohibits the department from not paying people for the hours they’ve worked. “If Lt. Beane has info that this policy is being violated, he needs to bring it to the chief’s office,” she said.
Smith said the department’s budget will not be impacted. “Officers don’t get to choose when they come to work and just because they show up doesn’t mean they are entitled to get paid.”
Beane said the union plans to file an unfair labor practice charge because the city didn’t negotiate the clocks with the union.
He said city officials should proceed with caution and cited Montgomery County’s decision not to have sheriff’s deputies punch a clock because it would cost too much in overtime pay.
Sheriff Phil Plummer said his deputies did a recent trial run with a Kronos system, but the county ultimately decided against it because of costs and logistics.
Smith said she does not believe the county had the same system the city has.
A check throughout the county found no other police department requires officers to clock in.
Time clocks are planned for the city’s fire departments and could be installed as soon as this year, Gaytko said.
Firefighters union spokesman Brad French agreed with Beane, saying time clocks “would actually be more of a cost than a cost-savings,” because firefighters often report early or stay late to help in emergencies.
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