Yuba County is home to 78,000-plus residents in picturesque communities that offer a small-town feel. The County employs nearly 900 people across 19 divisions.
Challenges
For Yuba County, having five unions and 10 bargaining units with specialized work and pay rules adds a layer of complexity in managing timesheets, earnings, benefits, and securities in an HRIS system.
Two HR staffers recorded employee contact information, salary, transactions, and benefits information in multiple spreadsheets and systems without automation. All employee data was then entered again into a third-party payroll system.
An HR analyst had to gather data from many sources to produce fiscal budget information, such as for the salary and benefits report. HR analytics were a struggle to compile with data stored in a myriad of places.
The paper-based new-hire process was cumbersome for both employees and HR staff, making onboarding interactions more transaction-based than relational.
At the same time that Yuba County leaders were assessing human capital management (HCM) processes, they also recognized that the County needed to move from a monthly to a biweekly payroll cycle, as well as have access to online time reporting.
Solutions
In assessing solutions, Yuba County wanted a solution that could provide a single source of truth for all employee information, with easy access to and utilization of data. It also wanted to create an efficient, paperless onboarding process for both new hires and HR staff, freeing up time for more relational interactions, and streamline the payroll process and HR function for greater efficiency.
To improve HCM, the County needed real-time workforce data and extensive reporting functionality, including opportunities to create custom reports. It also wanted a solution that could integrate with third-party solutions for the efficient transfer and sharing of information.
Yuba County implemented the UKG Ready® solution to streamline its payroll process, improve HR functionality, and gain access to real-time data for timely, informed decisions. The County will move from a monthly to bi-weekly payroll cycle and is poised to implement the timekeeping module next. UKG Ready interfaces with the County's third-party benefits providers and is reporting benefits information to CalPERS Retirement.
“We spent a lot of time on our new hire checklist [in UKG Ready] to get it right. It brings value to the County. We look concise and efficient in our initial handout to an employee: Here's what we need from you. It allows us to be relational and keep the transactional in UKG.”
Cameron DuBray
Systems Administrator
Results
The new-hire checklists and onboarding information in UKG Ready have streamlined the onboarding process for both new employees and HR staff, giving HR more opportunities to focus on building relationships instead of on transactional tasks.
"We spent a lot of time on our new hire checklist [in UKG Ready] to get it right," said Cameron DuBray, Systems Administrator at Yuba County. "It brings value to the County. We look concise and efficient in our initial handout to an employee: Here's what we need from you. It allows us to be relational and keep the transactional in UKG."
With all employee information residing in a single solution, changes and additions can be made in just one place, eliminating numerous spreadsheets and duplicate entry of payroll information. Just over one payroll staffer now dedicates time to payroll.
Payroll records are easily accessed in the solution, enabling HR staff to quickly pull together salary and benefit information for accurate budgeting. HR and payroll staff members use UKG Ready reports extensively to gather employee, payroll, benefits, position, and retirement information in individual and cross-referenced reports.
A merit increase report was designed in the solution with custom columns showing where an employee falls on the index table and the next step increase. A benefits balance report that took days to complete previously is now available immediately.
For Yuba County, accessing workforce data with UKG Ready is far simpler and more efficient than before.
