2006-11-20 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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received a number of them. They are mostly aware of what Human Resources' concerns are and are trying to address them. One recommendation is for them to drop the FRESH package and get a human resources system that would be more efficient for them. A way would then need to be found to interface the systems. However, Human Resources and Payroll are so closely integrated that it works best when the same employee knows both sides. All of the correct information needs to be input in order to get the correct paycheck. This is new for Human Resources employees. Before, each employee had a paper form they filled out. Ms. Nicholson asked whether employees still need to fill out a paper form, which another employee would retype onto an electronic form that gets submitted, as part of the Commission's concern is consolidation of payroll and personnel forms. She asked whether the system is mostly computerized, or manual, or whether departments design their own forms, or whether the FRESH system contains standard forms that everyone uses. Ms. Crawford said the system is standardized. When a new employee is hired, all the information the employee put on the original application form, as well as the position number, bargaining unit, pay rate, and everything else related to that employee is put into the computer at the department level by that department's human resources person. If something changes, the change has to be put into the system. She did not believe departments designed their own forms to gather the information. For payroll, employees or their supervisors fill out a paper form. Data Systems and in -house staff are working on improving getting the information from the form into the computer. Ms. Nicholson said getting the information into the computer is part of the issue. There is labor and the need for accuracy involved in getting the information from a paper form into a computer, and she questioned whether this was a system problem or whether a payroll lag would help. Ms. Crawford said the lag would give more time to get the information in and check it. She said the data entry input into the FRESH payroll system, if it is a complex payroll, is not efficient, and the County will ultimately be paying for a modification from the vendor. However, Data Systems has written a "front end" which takes the information from the form and inputs it in a more efficient manner. It has windows for temporary assignments and other categories. This is now in the process of being tested. The form is designed for data functionality and is an improvement over what came from the vendor. Other departments have other record - keeping systems they use, such as the Highway Division, which includes where employees worked and on what project. A clerk takes the information, inputs it into the system, and generates a time sheet for the employee to sign. Both systems are being tested now but are not yet available to departments. She is hopeful that in a month or so decisions will be made to take advantage of one or the other. Mr. Sakaguchi said it would be easier to have a time sheet template and a clerk in the department go on line and enter the information. Ms. Crawford said she believed that is available now. Mr. Sakaguchi asked why it was not being done, rather than dealing with sheets of paper. He asked who the County's vendor was and what other counties were using the vendor. Ms. Crawford said that the vendor was Eden Systems, which was bought out by Tyler, which handles only municipal organizations across the United States. The County is their only Hawaii customer right now. Mr. Sakaguchi asked why the other counties and the State chose to go with other vendors, and Ms. Crawford said each bought systems at different times. Mr. Sakaguchi said municipalities should talk to each other, as their problems are the same. Everything is 7