Access-to-Time have been working with Oxford City Council’s Waste and Recycling Services in a bid to streamline the service and make it more efficient, by using the latest technology to save time and money.
In March 2011 Oxford City Council managers gave the go ahead for the Focus Enterprise system to be installed, to monitor how much time staff spend at work. The system has two terminals and a specially-tailored on-screen display.
In the past, staff at the waste and recycling depot filled in their time sheets manually, which is not an accurate or efficient way to record attendance at work. The installation of the new time and attendance technology has enabled the council to streamline the service and make financial savings.
Ian Bourton is the project manager who has overseen the implementation of the new system, which is being used by around 70 waste and recycling operatives. He has been working with Alastair Slade from Access -to-Time to implement the new system. Alastair explains how it works:
“There are two terminals that are used for staff to clock in and out using handscan technology. One is located inside and the other outside, with a special hurricane cover so that it can be used in all weathers. A customised ‘Run Out’ screen has been provided so that managers can plan working schedules very quickly and more accurately. They can also see up-to-the-minute information about who has clocked in or out in real time.”
Ian Bourton, from Oxford City Council goes on to outline the reasons for installing the system and the benefits :
“The Focus Enterprise system has made it easier to allocate staff shifts and managers can monitor and report staff attendance. Holidays, lieu time and sickness absence are also recorded much more accurately. Precise clocking in and out of staff members means that managers can see the information at any time on the screen. There have been efficiencies made by using this system and in addition to the cost savings, you haven’t got staff filling out time sheets when they could be using the time to carry out work. The system has been very easy for the staff to use and there have been no objections to switching over. It’s also good at capturing data in real time. Staff can ‘bank’ hours they haven’t used, which we can use to undertake training for example. There is more accurate recording of overtime and we are now just using one database instead of three or four.”
The system has been running since May 2011 and Oxford City Council will be considering whether to roll the system out to other departments, especially those services where staff work outside normal office hours.
More information about Access-to-Time and their time and attendance systems can be found at www.a2t.co.uk
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