Return of Personnel

Scenario and Recommended Information System

Each department within the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) must electronically complete a Return of Personal (ROP) by the fifth of each month to ensure that all employees are paid. It also verifies the number of leave the employee has remaining and ensures that an employee returns from any leave taken. Every department has an Administrative Assistant or Clerk who has access to this format in word and must check the attendance register for each employee attached to that particular department and record any leave taken (sick, casual, vacation, maternity). It also captures information such as the employment status of an employee for example if employees are contracted, permanent or leave relief. Another aspect of the ROP is to capture employees on acting appointments. This is the period by which an employee is temporally promoted to act in the capacity that exceeds their current position. This can either be because an employee is on leave for an extended period of time or because said employee’s contracted period has ended, and as a result the region has appointed the most qualified employee to act in that capacity until said employee returns or a new person is contracted.  The ROP is then verified by the head of that department and forwarded to Human Resource for record keeping and to accounts for payment of salaries. This can be a challenge in a number of ways for example the Disaster Preparedness Coordinator (DPC) is often on the field or is sometimes engaged in training programs for external stakeholders or members of staff. In essence the DPC is not required to sign the attendance register. There is employees that are categorized as field workers and are also not obligated to sign the attendance register. We must therefore trust that an employee is honest and reliable enough to give accurate information about their work schedule. There is also the issue of time; the deadline for the submission of every department’s ROP is the fifth of every month primarily because the Accounts Department must have this information in order to meet their deadline for paying members of staff and also because this information helps the HR Department to keep track of an employee’s leave balance or any employee that is scheduled to proceed on an extended period of leave. Often time this deadline is not met and HR must now call each department with outstanding information individually to urge them to submit this information. Additionally the ERHA spans from Sangre Grande to Matelot and also covers areas such as Mayaro, Rio Claro and Guayaguayare. Therefore geographically we cover a large area and there are instances were an employee may be attached to a particular department however does not work there. For example the Occupational and Employee Development Department (O&ED) is located in the Human Resource Building Sangre Grande however some members of staff attached to that department works in the Mayaro Learning Resource Centre. This creates an issue when compiling the ROP primarily because we must now contact that employee to inquire if they have taken any leave, there is however no one to verify this information. To alleviate these problems the ERHA should implement a Badge System where by each member of staff is required to swipe their ERHA identification badge to access anyone of the regions facilities. This system will record the time and date each employee arrives or departs a location. This system will be linked to the Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) Department to generate a report monthly and to maintain the system. This badge system will eliminate the uncertainty and can bring accountability as the system will also highlight habitual tardiness or absenteeism. The system will generate a monthly report of each employee’s clock in time and departure. Each report generated will flow through the HR department primarily because they need this information to keep track of employees and also because this information is necessary in the event that corrective action is required. The General Manager-Human Resource will have the capacity to access this information via his smartphone in the event that there is an emergency at anyone of these facilities he will be able generate a report of all employees that clocked in to that particular location on said day. The system will eradicate the need to sign an attendance register on a daily basis and will save time as some departments are larger than others therefore the time it will take one department to go through the attendance record to verify arrival and departure time of all employees may be more time consuming for a department like HR in appose to the Disaster Preparedness Department. Additionally often time you have to ask employees to sign out because they forgot to do so. By implementing this system this issue will be eradicated as employees will now have to swipe their badges to exit the building. Additionally in the event that employees are habitually declining to swipe their ID badges when departing the system will also generate a report to highlight this. This system will also act as a security mechanism in that it will limit access to employees for certain areas. The system will also have the capacity to grant access to members of staff to certain areas while limiting access to others. It will move the region from a pen and paper spreadsheet to a more electronic system, therefore the region will grow technologically and by extension increase efficiency and productivity. The Accounts Department will also have access to the information which will eliminate the dependency on each department to submit this information. Individuals that will have access to this information will include management level staff in the HR, ISIT and Accounts Department. Access will also be granted to lower level staff such as ISIT technicians responsible for generating the report or maintaining the database. Accounting Assistants will also have access to the database for payment of salaries. Each individual with access to the system will have to access it through their password which will ensure accountability. This can improve management’s decision in that it will provide a more accurate record of the arrival and departure of each employee. It will also assist management in ensuring that each employee fulfills their forty hour work week which is important to the authority and can increase productivity.  

Benefits of implementing the Badge System

There are a number of benefits that can be derived from implementing this system one of which includes the accuracy as it pertains to the arrival and departure of employees. Employees may therefore be more accountable as it relates to their attendance and arrival time if they are aware that this information cannot be manipulated. Often times, employees may record inaccurate arrival time; however with the use of the badge system this problem can be eradicated. This system will also save time as Administrative Assistants and Clerks will no longer be responsible for manually inputting the attendance of all employees assigned to their department. This report will now be electronically generated by a system creating more time for employees to engage in providing quality health care to its clients. It will also reduce the time in which it takes this information to reach the HR department and by extension the Accounts Department. These two departments will now have access to this information as soon as the report is generated at the end of each month. It will also assist in the tracking of habitual tardiness and absenteeism which will also encourage accountability if employees are aware that there are repercussions to this type of action. An increased insight in the number of employees that are either late or absent frequently can also give  management a better understanding of the number of hours that are wasted monthly due to lateness or absenteeism. There is also the aspect of security, this new badge system will have the capacity to restrict and or grant access to employees to different areas. This will provide information as it relates to any employee that accesses a particular area. It will also ensure that any employee that does not have access to an area is not allowed to enter. This system can also reduce cost as often times employees must copy the attendance register to confirm the days they worked as it relates to overtime. These overtime hours can sometimes be a lot and often times this information must flow through various departments, which results in duplication. By implementing this system employees will no longer have to photocopy attendance registers, instead this information will be accessed electronically via the badge system.

Anticipated challenges to implementing the Badge System

I anticipate that there will be challenges in implementing this system one of which includes the cost related to accessorizing each facility with the hardware and software for swiping badges. Additionally the region must ensure that every employee has a badge with the capacity to swipe in order to grant access to employees. At present finance is an issue and the ERHA might encounter issues in acquiring funding from ministry to implement this system. To combat this challenge the ERHA will have to present this information to the Board of Directors and once the Board approves it ministry my be more inclined to provide funding. However it is important to note that there is very little the region can do we are dependent on the board and ministry to implement this system. The region may also encounter challenges from employees as they may view this as a tracking mechanism and may initially refuse to comply. There is also the possibility that employees may misplace their badges which will result in the region having to replace them which is a cost that must be incurred by the region.