Keolis: New Biometric Time Clock For Commuter Rail Employees More Accurate, Efficient

SOMERVILLE (CBS) -- A new high-tech time clock is coming to Keolis Commuter Services.

Keolis Commuter Rail employees will be clocking in biometrically beginning on Monday. Employees will punch in an ID number, then press their thumb to a scanner for a more accurate record of hours worked.

Keolis Chief Mechanical Officer Ernest Piper says this was not the result of the firing of six employees in September for fudging time cards, rather this grew out of a request from managers to fix the time clock system so that they aren't spending so much time adjusting hours-worked records under the previous, outdated system.

The old system using swiped badges was so inaccurate managers were spending up to 10 hours a week adjusting time cards, Piper said.

"That's a whole workday during the week just adjusting payroll," Piper said. "That's 10 hours that they're not walking the shop floor, looking at quality, working with the employees and everything else."

The new one, he said, will be far more accurate and easier. The new system, he added, was in the works before the workers were fired in September for having irregular attendance and not keeping proper time cards.

According to Piper, the new biometric time clock will not only free up managers, but will give an accurate accounting of who is in the building in the event of a fire or other emergency.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports