SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Save on administrative overhead and time by changing to monthly pay period instead of bi-weekly

At a previous company, we each did our own TAR electronically. At the bottom of the TAR was a submit button, this TAR then went tot our Supervisor for review. They could approve, reject ro amend the TAR. If approved, it would electronically go to payroll, and would be submitted with the electronic signatures. Right now, we print the TAR, sign the TAR, print the SF-71s and such. If there is a change, we then reprint.... more »

The Federal Government should reduce work schedules to 7 hours a day instead of 8. This would equal 10 hours less per pay period. Multiply that by approximately 2.15 million employees = $$$$$$ in savings. This measure will result in huge savings in payroll costs while avoiding layoffs.

The reduction in salary may not be significant to create a burden on the employee (better fewer hours than no job at all). In addition,... more »

The timekeeping system my agency uses requires duplicating or triplicating the recording of hours on a timesheet to account for non-regular pay differentials, such as Sunday differentials, pay for working holidays, night differential, or other premium pay hours.

In other words, if you work on a Sunday until 9:00 PM in the evening, you must first record a standard 8 hours of work, then record 8 hours of Sunday pay, then... more »

Many federal employees are "Retired-in-Place" today. They are simply overhead, putting in the time at work but not contributing to the bottom line. By offering periodic early retirement packages to all federal employees, the "cost" of the early retirement package would be offset by the billions of dollars that would be saved though the ongoing salaries and the Federal government's non retired shared benefits costs.... more »

Would it save money or at least time and effort for payroll staff, if we were paid semi-monthly instead of bi-weekly. It decreases our pay from 26 pay periods to 24 pay periods. This would decrease the amount of transactions to pay withholding taxes to all the appropriate states and federal government. Decrease the amount of transactions to pay allottments and garnishments. And honestly, it would help employees with... more »

Payroll should no longer process optional allotments from employee pay. Since 99.99% of employees have direct deposit of pay, and most reputable financial institutions have Bill Pay services, employees should be able to manage allotment services through their personal bank accounts. The Bill Pay service is also more efficient than payroll allotments.

Use part-time employees to work extra hours instead of full-time employees. For full-time employees, extra time worked is paid time and a half. For part-time employees, extra time worked is paid as additional regular time. In my organization full-time employees are often offered extra hours before part-time employees.

Currently federal agencies mandate electronic payroll deposits. On the flip side, many still send out paper payroll subs.

 

I would like to see a federal mandate to make all payroll stubs electronic. This would save postage and paper costs while simultanelously expediting these notices to all federal employees.

Per your request "If you see a way the government can do its job better, or do the same job for less money, I want to know about it. "

The problem is with the different budgets at airports for full timers and part timers. The system is set up where paying full timers overtime rates still looks better on paper than paying part timers at straight time, this budget tracking is very disfunctional and wastes too much money.... more »

Timesheets should be replaced by a user-friendly web application. This would standardize the timekeeping process, reduce errors, and allow for automation. The web application would allow allow employees to enter time worked, apply an auto-check function to ensure there are no errors, and then submit the information to an approving official. This official can simply verify the hours worked online, hit an approve button,... more »

Revise the "Night Differential - not worked" pay category. Perhaps it could be replaced with a "Night Differential - holiday" option.

Employees that work on nontraditional shifts can claim Night Differential – Not Worked for: 1) a Holiday – Not Worked, or 2) for small amounts of sick or annual leave. When I've inquired in the past, I've been told that the main purpose it to maintain your base pay rate. I purpose that... more »

Change Government Payroll from a bi-weekly payment to a monthly payment. Many State Governments have switched to a Monthly Payroll to increase efficiency. Once a month payroll would cut down on administrative work, time, costs associated with payroll, and the management of benefits and leave. There would be a couple of months where the transition would be difficult for employees, but once accustomed to the new system,... more »

Outreach is a wonderful thing, and the people I know who do it are extremely dedicated and hard-working; they truly care about the people to whom they are reaching out, and they regularly go "above and beyond" to seek out every person who might be eligible to receive government benefits.

However, the number of existing claims is so huge that claims processors are swamped, and large backlogs keep growing larger.

Is it... more »

The IRS should develop a website similar to loan or credit card agencies that allows taxpayers (individuals, businesses, payroll taxes, etc.) to create an account and login to see if and how much in taxes they still owe. These individual accounts should also include a breakdown showing returns that have been received or are still due, and what the taxes due are comprised of. For example, the year and type of Form or... more »