Located in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, the City of San Juan provides municipal services across public safety, public works, parks and recreation, community development, utilities, and administration. The city’s IT department supports that entire operation, maintaining the infrastructure and cybersecurity that keep every department running.
Chief Technology Officer Daira Natividad oversees IT operations and works with departments across the city on everything from infrastructure and cybersecurity, to systems administration, project management, and vendor coordination. Because IT touches virtually every department, a typical day for Natividad and her team can involve addressing immediate operational needs while also working on longer-term projects and improvements that help the city operate more efficiently.
A manual process that slowed everyone down
Before TimeClock Plus, the City of San Juan tracked employee time using a largely manual process. Employees and supervisors spent significant time entering, reviewing, correcting, and approving records by hand. In a city with employees working across departments, schedules, and physical environments, consistent, accurate time tracking wasn’t easy.
“One of the biggest challenges with a manual process was maintaining consistency and visibility across different departments. As a municipality, we have employees working in a variety of environments and schedules, so having a centralized solution became increasingly important.” — Daira Natividad
The administrative load added up, taking important time away from every department. Natividad estimates the city spent three hours per pay period on timekeeping-related tasks, including reviewing records, making corrections, answering questions, and preparing information for payroll.
“The bigger issue wasn’t necessarily one single task taking a significant amount of time. It was the cumulative administrative effort involved across multiple departments,” she said.
Finding a solution built for a municipality
The City of San Juan wanted a solution that could reduce manual processes, improve visibility, and give employees and supervisors an easier way to manage time and attendance. With multiple departments, different work schedules, overtime requirements, and payroll processes to account for, accuracy mattered as much as ease of use.
TimeClock Plus stood out for the combination of functionality and flexibility it offered. Natividad and her team were particularly interested in a centralized solution that could “provide better visibility into employee time while also giving departments the ability to manage their own employees.” Automating parts of the process and having reporting and administrative capabilities also mattered in their decision.
With support from TCP, the city configured TimeClock Plus around its departments, employee classifications, schedules, and administrative requirements, rather than adapting existing processes to fit a one-size-fits-all model.
“Having support during the implementation helped us work through those requirements and configure the solution to better fit our municipal operations,” Natividad said. “Once employees became familiar with the solution, the electronic process was much easier to understand than some of the manual processes we had previously used.”
70% less administrative work, 100% more visibility
Since implementing TimeClock Plus, the City of San Juan has moved from a time-consuming manual department-by-department process to an efficient and centralized automated solution. Employees record their time electronically, and supervisors review and approve records within the same solution, which lets supervisors catch and fix issues before they reach payroll.
The city estimates it has cut timekeeping-related administrative work by 70%, a reduction Natividad said benefits far more than IT. “The savings aren’t limited to IT. The benefit is spread across employees, supervisors, HR, finance, and other administrative staff, because everyone has better access to the same information.”
Natividad said the change has also shifted how employees experience time tracking day to day. “It has helped create a greater sense of transparency and accountability. Employees can see their own time records, while supervisors have a clearer process for reviewing and approving them.”
Built to grow with the city
The City of San Juan’s needs have continued to change since implementation, and TimeClock Plus has kept pace. “We’ve been able to continue using TimeClock Plus as our operational needs have changed, rather than having to completely rethink our timekeeping process,” Natividad said.
As the city continues modernizing its operations, Natividad sees TimeClock Plus playing a bigger role. “We want to continue reducing manual processes, improving access to information, and using technology to make city operations more efficient.”
For other municipalities weighing a change, Natividad’s advice is direct. “I would recommend that they take a serious look at it, particularly if they are dealing with a manual or fragmented timekeeping process,” she said. “Municipalities have unique challenges because of the number of departments, different employee schedules, overtime requirements, and administrative processes involved. Having a centralized solution in TimeClock Plus has made a significant difference in visibility, accountability, and efficiency.”
TCP Software’s employee scheduling and time and attendance solutions are flexible and scalable to accommodate your business and employees as you grow.
From TimeClock Plus, which automates even the most complex payroll calculations and leave management requests, to Humanity Schedule for dynamic employee scheduling that saves you time and money, we have everything you need to meet your organization’s needs, no matter how unique. Plus, with Aladtec, we offer 24/7 public safety scheduling solutions for your hometown heroes.
Ready to learn how TCP Software takes the pain out of employee scheduling and time tracking? Speak with an expert today.
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