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Committee reviews LAFD payroll overhaul, Workday integration and timeline
Summary
City staff told a committee that replacing the decades-old NSS payroll functions and better integrating Workday is needed to stop recurring pay errors for Los Angeles Fire Department employees; officials said partial fixes are underway, full changes could take months and require additional budget approval.
A city committee heard an update on recurring payroll problems affecting the Los Angeles Fire Department and other departments and reviewed staff recommendations to centralize human-resources and payroll functions in Workday and retire the legacy NSS system.
City IT staff and the Controller's office said immediate corrective work is underway while the city evaluates longer-term options that would require additional contracting and budget approvals. Staff described a two-track approach: short-term fixes to reduce payroll errors now, and a longer project to replace or significantly reconfigure NSS so payroll is driven from a single Workday-based system.
Information Technology Agency staff summarized an initial analysis showing that consolidating HR data in Workday would reduce the need for repeated retroactive payments and improve timekeeping, certification tracking and bonus calculations. Staff said producing firm cost estimates for the Workday-centered approach would take about four weeks; implementing recommended changes would take six to eight months for specific functions, while contracting and larger implementation could extend to nine to 12 months or longer.
Officials told the committee that the initiative will require a budget allocation for third-party services in addition to Workday contract work. One figure mentioned in the meeting for prior planning was about $1.5 million for some of the integration and vendor services; staff emphasized that detailed cost estimates are pending.
The Controller's office and IT staff said a cross-agency team known in the meeting as the 'Tiger' team is working on near-term fixes now while the city assesses replacement options for NSS. Staff said they have not concluded whether Workday alone can fulfill all LAFD timekeeping and scheduling needs or whether a supplementary vendor product will be required.
Committee members and department staff repeatedly emphasized that payroll problems have direct consequences for employees who must receive accurate paychecks. Staff described efforts already completed to reduce errors and said some of the most persistent causes are technical integrations between NSS and Workday and operational issues such as timekeeping and certification data not flowing consistently between systems.
The committee directed information-technology staff and the chief administrative/financial offices to return with fiscal-impact analyses and specific budget requests tied to the recommendations for the LAFD payroll changes and any recovery work under the existing Workday contract.
Staff cautioned that even with a decision to proceed, the project is not a quick fix: while some corrective work is close to done, full replacement or reconfiguration of payroll infrastructure will be a multi-stage effort lasting many months and requiring additional funding approval.
The update followed public comment in which city employees and union representatives described long-standing payroll problems and urged the committee to make temporary and long-term fixes. One union representative thanked the Controller's office and the committee for prioritizing the issue and asked that the city make the added payroll-staff positions permanent while the technical work proceeds.
An appendix to the staff presentation identified specific next steps: develop the four-week cost estimate, scope vendor work for integration, and return to committee with a fiscal-impact report and an implementation schedule.
