Porter County is moving ahead with a new employee timekeeping policy that officials hope will provide better efficiency and accountability.
The auditor’s office received new software and other upgrades last year in advance of the switch, which county attorney Scott McClure said during a Tuesday Board of Commissioners meeting will occur in the coming weeks.
Department heads will be given what he called “a drop-dead date to go live” in the next two weeks, officials said.
Two county offices are already using the new program, said Auditor Vicki Urbanik, and 10 could go live with the new software with the next county payroll.
Though commissioners adopted the policy during their meeting, McClure said it will be a “living document” that will likely change over time. He vetted the new policy along with Urbanik and the county’s new human resources director, Heather Shearer, as well as getting feedback from department heads.
Under the new policy, department heads and their chiefs or assistant directors are exempt from overtime and comp time. The assistant directors and the rest of county employees must clock in and out each day and for lunch, McClure said.
Because the county has so many departments, including employees in the sheriff’s department and 911 Communications who work shifts, the switch is a complicated one.
The change, said Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-Center, is the beginning of a lot of heavy lifting because of the work involved.
“I embrace this but it’s a lot of hard work in front of us,” he said.
The last major rewrite of the county attendance policies was done in the mid-1990s, said Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North.
Officials expect to tweak the policy once it’s in place, given its complexity.
“I’m sure there are some people we haven’t taken into consideration,” said Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South. “If something’s not working, let’s talk about it.”
In other business, officials will be keeping a close eye on county roads as the weather goes through another cycle of thawing and freezing, Good said.
“It’s not a good place to be and we’re there again,” he said, adding commissioners have been talking with members of the county council about the possible need for extra funds to repair county roads.
In addition to causing problems on the roads, the thawing also could cause drainage issues, he added.
“We have a lot of different things hitting us from different directions but we’re managing it,” Good said.
Commissioners also approved a request for $50,000 in additional appropriations for overtime for the highway department, to cover snowplow drivers, and a transfer of $80,000 to purchase additional road salt.
Highway superintendent Andy McKay said his department has already used 5,600 tons of salt so far this winter and has reserves of 3,500 tons on hand but the additional funds would allow him to buy 7,000 tons if needed, the maximum allowed under the contract with the state.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
