Res. No. 1660

Resolution calling for a one-year moratorium on the use and expansion of CityTime surveillance technology used to track the time of City employees in order to properly assess its advantages and disadvantages.

By Council Members Brewer, Comrie, James and Seabrook

Whereas, CityTime is an automated timekeeping system that records the daily time, attendance and leave requests of New York City employees; and

Whereas, CityTime replaces paper timesheets and other non-automated methods of recording time with data collection devices such as scanners and desktop computers; and

Whereas, Information is transmitted through the data collection devices to authorized managerial, supervisory and timekeeping personnel; and

                     Whereas, Currently, twenty-five agencies are using the CityTime program and agencies can select which method employees will use; and

Whereas, In addition to online timesheets or timecards as well as request for leave and access reports, agencies may choose for employees to use the Hand Biometric device to capture arrival and departure times; and

                     Whereas, Use of CityTime varies with position and salary and has been programmed to facilitate the enforcement of collective bargaining agreements, as well as the applicable provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); and

Whereas, The FLSA exempts executive, administrative and professional employees from its overtime pay and minimum wage provisions; and

Whereas, Within CityTime, employees who are exempted from FLSA coverage are required to record their time on a weekly basis on their computers or by using a palm scanner; and

Whereas, Further, employees who are protected by the FLSA are required to submit their time on a daily basis, using a biometric scanner and employee-specific PIN numbers; and

Whereas, The implementation of CityTime has provoked strong reactions among some City workers and labor unions, in particular the use of surveillance technology used for timekeeping; and

Whereas, Labor unions and advocates indicate that the various surveillance technology has made some City employees feel embarrassed and degraded as if they were not trusted to honestly record their time and that such technology constitutes an invasion and intrusion in the privacy of City employees; and

Whereas, The CityTime contract has been renewed and extended numerous times since the original contract was awarded in 1998, with the most recent extension extending the contract until August 12, 2009; and

Whereas, The amended terms of the contract gives the City the option to extend such contract until 2021, which would be 23 years after the original contract was first awarded; and

Whereas, Additionally, the number of extensions and renewals of this contract has led to a ballooning cost for the City; and

Whereas, According to the City’s public database of contracts, the initial contract amount for CityTime was $48,134,507 in 1998 and has risen to $181,139,054 as of the current contract, which began August 13, 2003; and

Whereas, While added costs and extended time periods are likely necessary if services to additional agencies are to be included within the contract’s reach, these increases raise concerns regarding whether there has been sufficient competition throughout the contracting process, as well as financial concerns in light of the City’s current fiscal state; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls for a one-year moratorium on the use and expansion of CityTime surveillance technology used to track the time of City employees  in order to properly assess its advantages and disadvantages.

LS# 6036

S.O.

9/30/08

3:04pm