Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Human Resources topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pittsburg HR warns growing benefits and onboarding strain, pushes for consolidated HRIS
Summary
Human resources director Kim Vogel told commissioners that rising health‑plan enrollment, heavy onboarding/offboarding volumes and limited ADP functionality are straining staff and that a consolidated HRIS could save time and reduce billing errors.
Human resources director Kim Vogel told the City of Pittsburg commissioners during a budget work session that the department is managing rising participation in the city's health plan, heavy onboarding volumes and multiple disconnected software platforms and is seeking a consolidated human resources information system.
"I am the director of, human resources," Vogel said as she introduced HR staff and explained the department's role. She described HR as responsible for hiring, benefits administration, employee relations and training and said personnel services in HR's budget covers salaries and a broad benefits package including health insurance, retirement and payroll taxes.
Vogel detailed several workload pressures: the number of employees and dependents in the health plan rose from 418 in 2024 to 457 in the most recent count; in 2025 the department recorded 194 onboardings and 141 offboardings, leaving an ending headcount reported as 378 (308 on the final payroll run). She said onboarding and offboarding require use of many systems, listing WordPress, NeoGov, ADP, LaserFiche and Perform, and recommended consolidating those functions into a single HRIS to reduce manual work and duplicate entries.
Vogel also called out recurring contractual costs tied to payroll/timekeeping software. "ADP is our software that we run, time and attendance and benefits, payroll payroll and benefits," she said, and noted ADP support and the app experience are limited for mobile users. She highlighted ADP fees—about $91,000 in contractual services—and said billing can include offboarded users if records are not kept current, adding administrative time and potential extra cost.
Commissioners asked whether a full HRIS could pay for itself through efficiency gains. Vogel answered that savings would depend on the system and require deeper analysis in concert with the finance team's planned financial system replacement, and that much of the expected gain would be in staff hours saved. On worker‑comp and leave administration, Vogel reported 49 workers' compensation claims in 2025 (two lost‑time claims, 30 medical‑only and 21 open cases) and nine employees on FMLA during the year, illustrating the administrative burden for benefits administration.
Vogel described outreach efforts to recruit and retain staff—attending about 10 job fairs annually and running an employee referral program—and highlighted employee wellness and recognition activities such as service awards and an annual wellness fair at Memorial Auditorium. She said some small commodity expenditures coded to HR support those activities and recruiting events.
The presentation closed with Vogel urging investment in a consolidated HRIS to reduce duplicated data entry and time spent across several platforms; commissioners asked staff to return with more detailed cost estimates and potential savings so the council can evaluate tradeoffs in the upcoming budget process.
