Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Forget Punching Out, City Makes Workers Scan
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 23, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In a move that makes bag checks at subways look tame, the city has been rolling out biometric scanners for agencies to track its workers. The NY Times reports that scanners are "part of CityTime, an ambitious effort by the city’s Office of Payroll Administration to automate timekeeping," because there's nothing the Bloomberg administration likes better than technology. Unions support automated timekeeping, but they do not like their members needing to scan their hands every time they come and go. And then there's this:
Cecelia McCarthy, an official in the Organization of Staff Analysts, another union representing employees at the department, said one worker complained after a colleague with an injured hand was asked to remove a bandage and place the hand — with an open finger wound — on the machine.
Ew! Apparently Purell is now available at scanning stations, but unions point out that it ruins employee morale. While Law Department uses hand scanners to regulate access to its offices, the Department of Design and Construction, workers on daily timesheets are scanned while workers on weekly timesheets (like managers) do not have to scan.
This way, supervisors would have a sense of how many times an employee might leave the office for a smoke or a coffee or how long a lunch break one was taking. While it's nice of the city to want to make timekeeping easier, it seems like they are just making the workplace even more dreadful.
Part of NY Times graphic of the system and how it works
Tagged
bloomberg
coffee
construction
design
law
law department
News: NYC
ny times
office
subways
technology
the city
The NY
the ny times
the office
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Brooklyn school dean says MTA officers assaulted him over a $3 bus fare he says he paid
Kyle Taylor, a dean at Mott Bridges Academy, says he made a legal bus transfer.
By
Carol Chen
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 4:51 p.m. ET
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
Due to higher delivery fees, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island customers will likely see their bills increase by an average of $87 this winter.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
National Grid customers in NYC will see higher gas bills this winter
Due to higher delivery fees, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island customers will likely see their bills increase by an average of $87 this winter.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Bruce Blakeman joins Gov. Hochul in support for expanding NY rape law
By
Jon Campbell
2 men accused of stabbing off-duty NYPD detective in the Bronx plead not guilty
By
Charles Lane
and
Brittany Kriegstein
Man who pushed his baby and her mother from a Bronx balcony arraigned from psych ward
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .