Holi celebrations turned sour for hundreds of civic employees as the full salary for February was not credited owing to shift timings not being fed into the biometric system, which was introduced last year.
A civic official said, “In July 2017, all employees were asked to key in their duty timings to establish a disciplined working environment after a rise in instances of proxy attendance, reporting late for duty and adjusting shifts as per convenience. The biometric system is being updated and the remaining amount will be credited as soon as the staff enter the shift details.”
However, staff members complained that the system was riddled with problems. Trishala Kamble, secretary, Municipal Nursing and Paramedical Staff Union, said, “In civic hospitals, senior staff frame the duty charts. However, shifts often change depending on the increase in patients and shortage in staff. The biometric system often doesn’t take into account such changes shift timings and errors crop up while calculating the salary.” Ms. Kamble said salary was not credited for many staff members and it had become difficult for them to pay their loan instalments.
Over 20 fire brigade drivers and four firemen also said that they had not received their full salary. “The issue is our night shift starts at 11 p.m. and ends at 7 a.m. When an employee punches out in the morning, the biometric system clocks in.”
