San Mateo County Grand Jury
• 2006-2007
Issue | Background | Findings | Conclusions | Recommendations | Responses | Attachments Summary of Review of San Mateo
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
Cooperate with the Controller’s Office to determine on a timely basis which office should be assigned ultimate accountability for the payroll process. This determination should ensure that such office is clearly identified as the responsible entity. Response: Concur. The County Manager’s Office will cooperate with the Controller’s Office and will recommend that ultimate responsibility for the payroll process be assigned to the Controller’s Office. It is important to recognize that the successful operation of the HR/Payroll system (PIPS) is dependent on three departments’ continued cooperation as well as the payroll system vendor for compliance assurance: (1) the Information Services Department (ISD) will need to ensure the system(s) are available and functioning as designed; (2) the Human Resources Department (HR) will need to ensure that personnel information, including earning type code setup and accurate employee position and pay grade information, is properly maintained in the system; and (3) the Controller will need ensure that employee time reported is paid accurately and on a timely basis. The payroll vendor will be required to review compliance of the County payroll system with state and federal laws and regularly assist in implementing new requirements. This multi-departmental approach is much like the current County process related to property taxes, which requires the cooperation of the Assessor, Controller, and Tax Collector with well-defined areas of responsibility for all three departments. The County Manager’s Office will work with the Controller’s Office to establish a framework for ensuring the payroll system is functioning properly and to obtain additional staffing and financial resources to document and monitor the multi-departmental and vendor activities.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The Grand Jury recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct the County Manager to:
Cooperate with the Controller’s Office to determine on a timely basis which office should be assigned ultimate accountability for the payroll process. This determination should ensure that such office is clearly identified as the responsible entity.
F2
Establish written job descriptions for all employees in Human Resources and Information Services Department that clearly delineate the duties, responsibilities, accountability and controls for payroll and timekeeping functions within each department. Response: Concur. The County Manager’s Office will work with the Human Resources Department, Information Services Department, and the Controller’s Office to document the duties, responsibilities, accountability, and controls as part of the process described in the response to Recommendation 1 above.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The Grand Jury recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct the County Manager to:
Establish written job descriptions for all employees in Human Resources and Information Services Department that clearly delineate the duties, responsibilities, accountability and controls for payroll and timekeeping functions within each department.
F3
Create a standing, cross-functional committee composed of representatives from the Controller's Office including Internal Audit, Information Services Department and Human Resources to oversee and approve all payroll and timekeeping projects, and approve the duties, responsibilities and accountability for payroll and timekeeping among the three entities. Response: Concur. There is currently a Payroll (PIPS) Steering Committee comprised of the department heads from the Controller’s Office, Human Resources Department, and Information Services Department as well as the Audit Manager from the Controller’s Internal Audit Division. This same group, sans the Audit Manager from the Controller’s Internal Audit Division and the Deputy County Manager, comprise the Automated Time Keeping System (ATKS) Steering Committee that meets separately during the implementation stages of the ATKS project. With the successful completion of the ATKS project, it is anticipated that the PIPS Steering Committee will assume the additional responsibilities associated with the ATKS Steering Committee. The Controller’s Office will chair this cross- departmental committee.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The Grand Jury recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct the County Manager to:
Create a standing, cross-functional committee of representatives from the Controller's Office including Internal Audit, Information Services Department and Human Resources to oversee and approve all payroll and timekeeping projects, and approve the duties, responsibilities and accountability for payroll and timekeeping among the three entities. The Grand Jury recommends that the Controller:
F4
Page 7
Request that the County’s external auditors review the internal controls and procedures implemented in Phases 1 and 2 of the new timekeeping and payroll system. August 22, 2007 Hon. Joseph L. Grandsaert Judge of the Superior Court Hall of Justice 400 County Center; 2nd Floor Redwood City, CA 94063-1655 Hon. Joseph L. Grandsaert: Regarding the recommendations in the Grand Jury REVIEW OF SAN MATEO COUNTY PAYROLL PRACTICES Report to the Controller: 1. Cooperate with the County Manager’s office to determine on a timely basis which office should be assigned ultimate accountability for the payroll process. This determination should ensure that such office is clearly identified as the responsible entity. Response: The Controller agrees with this recommendation. The Controller’s Office will cooperate with the County Manager’s Office and will recommend that ultimate responsibility for the payroll process be assigned to the Controllers Office. It is important to recognize that the successful operation of the HR/Payroll system (PIPS) is dependent on three departments’ continued cooperation as well as the payroll system vendor for compliance assurance. The Information Services Department (ISD) will need to ensure the system(s) are available and functioning as designed, the Human Resources Department (HR) will need to ensure that personnel information, including earning type code setup and accurate employee position and pay grade information, is properly maintained in the system, and the Controller will need ensure that employee time reported is paid accurately and on a timely basis. The payroll vendor will be required to review compliance of our payroll system with state and federal laws and regularly assist in implementing new requirements. This multi-departmental approach is much like the current County process related to property taxes which requires the 1 cooperation of the Assessor, Controller and Tax Collector with well defined areas of responsibility for all three departments. The Controller’s Office will work with the County Manager’s Office to establish a framework for ensuring the payroll system is functioning properly and to obtain additional staffing and financial resources to document and monitor the multi- departmental and vendor activities.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Grand Jury recommends that the Controller:
Request that the County’s external auditors review the internal controls and procedures implemented in Phases 1 and 2 of the new timekeeping and payroll system. August 22, 2007 Hon. Joseph L. Grandsaert Judge of the Superior Court Hall of Justice 400 County Center; 2nd Floor Redwood City, CA 94063-1655 Hon. Joseph L. Grandsaert: Regarding the recommendations in the Grand Jury REVIEW OF SAN MATEO COUNTY PAYROLL PRACTICES Report to the Controller:
Additional Recommendations 5
These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.
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R5CTL Only - Unauthorized timesheets by Supervisor
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R6CTL Only - Unauthorized timesheets by PRC 1.1.3 TIME & ATTENDANCE TYPE DESCRIPTION
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R7Timesheet Errors – Supervisors
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R8Timesheet Errors – PRCs
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R9Timesheet Errors – CTL Distribution Lists CSM has requested the ability to mail “global” notices to all employees. Distribution lists can be created via the Maint->Message->Distribution screen. WB has created a global distribution list as part of this implementation. WB will train CSM IT on how to update the list when new hires. Update can either be performed manually via the Distribution screen or by running an SQL query on the backend to add new employees to the list. Custom 50% Report: Interfaces/ WB will implement a custom interaction to allow PRCs to assign temporary “Home” teams for a given Reports employee when they log more that 50%of their time outside their home department. Eligibility for the report is based on the time codes used to log time and whether or not an employee’s team is designated for “50% Eligibility”. The following codes will be considered by this feature (custom code). 001 045 056 070 641 006 048 057 073 648 025 051 058 075 652 035 052 059 076 664 041 053 064 079 690 043 054 066 090 044 055 069 635 Pay Period Summary – Supervisor Custom report based on the CORE “Pay Period Summary report”. Interaction will have a new parameter field “Sup Authorization” to query Approved, Not Approved, and ALL. Supervisor will use the report to authorize the timesheets. Pay Period Summary – PRC Custom report based on the CORE “Pay Period Summary report”. Interaction will have a new parameter fields “PRC Authorization” and “Sup Authorization” to query Approved, Not Approved, and ALL. PRCs will use the report to authorize the timesheets as a PRC and also tracking unauthorized timesheets by supervisors. CSM also requested the following header links that will query specific sets of values on these 2 custom PPS reports. The following links were built for CSM:
Conclusions 1
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CL1 Page 6While the Controller’s Office, Human Resources and ISD have cooperated to find a solution to the OT miscalculation, the Grand Jury concludes that these departments still lack a sense of accountability. Errors such as those identified in the Belmont Litigation require a team effort to find and implement solutions, to define and assign responsibilities, and to introduce a system of checks and balances. Written job descriptions for positions that are essential to the operation of the new timekeeping process will help establish accountability. The task of drafting and reviewing such job descriptions is an opportunity to enhance productivity by streamlining the current process, and should be performed by a cross-functional team from Human Resources, ISD, the Controller’s Office (including Internal Audit), and other departments, as needed, headed by Human Resources. While the scope and timing for implementation of Workbrain Phases 1 and 2 are clearly defined, Phase 3 is not. The scope and purpose of a Phase 3 to the Workbrain implementation needs better definition than is currently available.
No Responses Found 4
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
San Mateo County Assessor
Elected County Office
San Mateo County Auditor-Controller
Elected County Office
San Mateo County Treasurer-Tax Collector
Elected County Office