From March 2023, all staff of Local Government Service will undergo surveillance through advance biometric clock-in device to check absenteeism at work.
Officials of the Service per the new system would clock-in four times a day from 8:30am reporting time, 12:30pm, launch break, resume at 1:30pm and clock-out at 5:00pm.
Nursing mothers would clock-in at 9:00am and clock-out at 3:30pm, while field workers at the Department of Agriculture, Community Development and Social Welfare and some selected security/watchmen would clock-in once a week.
They would use their phones to clock-out with the help of an in-built device which would indicate their locations.
Mr Anorld A. Adjei, the Deputy Director of Proph XP Enterprise, a private IT firm disclosed this at a meeting with Chief Executives of Municipal and District Assemblies, Regional Heads of Departments, staff of all fifteen Municipal and District Assemblies in Bolgatanga.
He said the initiative was intended to support the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS) to eliminate ghost names from the payroll, ensure value for money, productivity and attendance to work.
Mr Adjei said any staff who does not clock-in continuously for ten days would automatically be deleted from the pay roll, and those who absented themselves from work without permission would have a percentage of their salary deducted at the end of the month.
He further explained that information on all staff would be generated every two weeks from the local level, transferred to the office of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) within a three-day period for verification and onward transfer to the OHLGS for perusal and to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), and to the Office of the President.
The Deputy Director said the initiative would improve on the already installed Finger-Print Machines at some District Assemblies in the region with Facial Recognition, Palm Scan and other features for comprehensive biometric identification.
He said before the commencement of the new initiative, staff of the Service would be sensitized by the CAGD on the percentage of deduction for absenteeism followed by official launch of the programme.
Mr John Muniru, an Assistant Director of Administration at the RCC, in a welcome address on behalf of the Regional Minister, pledged the support and collaboration of the RCC to help Prop XP to achieve the aim of the government.