Seneca County Sheriff’s Office

Overview of Seneca County Sheriff’s Office 

The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office is comprised of approximately 90 staff members, divided between sworn and non-sworn. Their three divisions include administration, law enforcement, and corrections/jail with a division commander overseeing each section. Seneca County uses a staggard, 8-hour based schedule.  

Seneca County Sheriff’s Office Past Challenges

Before InTime, Seneca County relied on an ineffective paper system for all their scheduling and workforce management processes. This error-prone system led to inaccurate and late payroll, an inefficient approval process, and lack of accountability in their overtime management process.

PAYROLL SUBMISSIONS WERE ALWAYS 1-3 DAYS LATE

Payroll was an error-prone, multi-step process. This process consisted of the division commander collecting data (timesheets, leave slips, vacation slips, etc.) and submitting it to the administrative person in charge of payroll. In addition, they were not using timesheets to track hours so they would then spend days and weeks tracking down lost paperwork and cross-referencing with their paper schedule, causing late payroll submissions that were still not free of discrepancies.

“Payroll was due on Monday, and we were submitting it on Wednesday or Thursday holding up the payroll processing for the other county agencies.” – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens

STAFF WAS UNSATISFIED WITH THEIR INEFFICIENT SCHEDULING, SIGN-UP, AND APPROVAL PROCESS

The inefficient scheduling and approval process was prone to human error and often, lost paperwork. Employees would not get their leave, vacation, and other shifts approved in a timely manner. And since there was only one supervisor in charge of approvals, there was the potential of more delay. In addition, employees would have to come to the office to physically sign up for overtime shifts based on their seniority. This made it difficult for employees to plan their personal lives and make the most of their time off.

PAPER-BASED OVERTIME MANAGEMENT PROCESS LACKED ACCOUNTABILITY

Seneca County had a rule-based overtime management process. However, due to the paperwork constantly getting lost or misplaced, it was difficult to have consistent documentation to prove that staff was following the agency rules. This opened Seneca County up to potential for grievances, leading to increased agency liabilities.

“Our overtime management is contractual and seniority-based, but it wasn’t being tracked that way.” – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens

Present Day Improvements

Sheriff Fredrick Stevens, previously Chief of the Tiffin Police Department, was elected as the new Sheriff in the beginning of 2021. While at Tiffin PD, he witnessed the positive change that InTime had on the department. Sheriff Stevens was confident that InTime would be successful for Seneca County and began implementing the solution in April 2021.

“We had a lot of complex agency needs at Tiffin and out of all the programs we researched, InTime completed all the checkboxes with no need for workarounds, so I knew that it was going to work for Seneca.” – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens

Now with InTime, Seneca County’s scheduling and payroll processes are streamlined and communication throughout the department has improved, boosting employee morale.

REMOVED 100% OF PAYROLL ERRORS

The switch to an automated system that transfers all scheduling and timekeeping data to their payroll system has eliminated all paperwork. With timesheets that had timestamps and require electronic sign-offs, this has eliminated the two to three days of tracking lost paperwork and cross-referencing data. Now, Seneca County is consistently submitting their payroll to their county auditor error-free and on time.

“We have eliminated 2-3 days of stress on our payroll person that had to track paperwork for 90 employees.”  – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens

ACCESS INTO SCHEDULES AND IMPROVED DATA ACCURACY BOOSTS EMPLOYEE MORALE

Data is now tracked accurately and with timestamps, improving accountability. Staff also have the ability to view their timebanks, schedules, and sign-up for upcoming shifts at any time through their smartphone or laptop. With InTime’s ability to set multi-level approvals, more than one supervisor can approve or deny requests. Supervisors can also approve at any time through their smartphone which eliminates delays for staff. Now with full transparency and improved communication, staff can properly plan their personal lives improving staff morale. 

“The fact that we use technology for this process attracts the newer employees who appreciate that. It has brought on significant recruitment value.” – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens

FAIR AND EQUITABLE OVERTIME MANAGEMENT REDUCES CHANCE OF GRIEVANCES

InTime’s automated process chooses the most qualified personnel based on configurable agency rules, removing any chance for bias. InTime breaks down each overtime activity by reason, activity, group, or location enabling easier and faster reporting. It can also be broken down to know which department or individual is working the most overtime. This information gives insight into how they can proactively optimize their overtime management.

“I have an extra added safeguard due to the user-defined parameters that we place in InTime. I know that my policy is inputted into the computer which does not have any bias.” – Sheriff Fredrick Stevens