NEW YORK - City officials say it's no different from punching a clock, but a number of civil servants are complaining about the government's growing use of palm print scanners to track employee work hours.
On Tuesday, unionized employees of the medical examiner's office became the latest city employees to protest the installation of biometric palm scanners, which log when they arrive for work and when they leave.
Employees using the system need to press their hands against one of the scanners and enter a code when they get to the office. They press the panel again when they go home.
The city has spent $410 million to install the system, now used by about 3,500 workers in 17 agencies, including the fire department, for administrative workers, and the health department.
But some workers see the devices as a privacy intrusion. Others are outraged by the high cost, and a few also consider them an insult to employees who, in the past, had been trusted to log their own hours.
"They are very professional people, and they are very frustrated with the way they are being treated," said Claude Fort, president of the Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375.
He said the workers now being asked to use the scanners in the medical examiner's office are forensic investigators who assist in crime scene investigations.
"You are talking about professionals who, if they have to stay 15 minutes after work, they stay," Fort said.
He added that the very idea of the scanners was "creepy."
The union has logged complaints about the palm-scanning program in the past, and the City Council held hearings on the matter last year, but that hasn't stopped implementation.
A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city began developing the system in 1998 and had its first round of implementation in 2005. As many as 80 city agencies will eventually use the CityTime system, he said, although not all will log hours with palm scanners.
Matt Kelly said the city's goal isn't to catch employees skipping work but to streamline payroll operations.
"The issue is making sure we pay our staff accurately and efficiently while remaining compliant with the law," Kelly said. "It is not about mistrust."
City Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr., who led the hearings on the palm-reading devices last year, said he nevertheless was concerned with the program's cost. He said he also wondered what the system would mean for worker privacy.
"Where do we stop?" he asked. "Where does it go beyond efficiency?"
