Over 700 Staff Receive Unified Payroll Numbers as Siaya County Tackles Backlog
From siaya.go.ke, Samwel Makende
The County Government of Siaya has successfully processed over 700 Unified Payroll Numbers (UPN) for its newly engaged staff. However, according to the Director of Human Resource Management, Susan Raba, a backlog of approximately 300 employees is awaiting their personal numbers.
“We want to thank Governor James Orengo and the entire county management for allowing us to continue processing the staff’s Unified Personal Numbers for recently engaged staff,” said Raba. The department is committed to ensuring all employees receive the necessary credentials to streamline payroll and benefits processing.
Initially, the county faced a backlog of 1,053 officers without personal numbers, but as new staff joined, the figures changed. Raba confirmed that over 700 personal numbers have been generated, and the remaining ones are actively being processed. “By the end of our stay here, we shall have reduced the backlog,” she assured. The technical staff, alongside experts from HRIS-Kenya, is diligently working to ensure the seamless completion of the process. The initiative is a crucial step in enhancing efficiency in payroll management and eliminating previous delays caused by manual processing.
The transition from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) to HRIS-Kenya marks a significant improvement in managing staff records. “We expedite the processes of the UPN, for we aim to eliminate manual payroll use to process salaries and other benefits for regular staff. We have also moved from Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) and are now in HRIS-Kenya,” Raba explained. A key requirement of HRIS-Kenya is that all salary payments and staff benefits must be processed through the system, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency. As a result, newly engaged employees are urged to be patient as their UP numbers are finalized.
One of the challenges delaying the process is the submission of incomplete or incorrect documents by some officers. “Amongst the challenges that delayed the process is that some officers have not been attaching the right documents, and they believe that interaction that is taking place in WhatsApp will have a seamless process,” Raba noted. Additionally, she emphasized that selfie photos are not accepted, and only high-quality colored photos in JPEG format will be processed in the system. Ensuring compliance with these requirements will facilitate a more efficient registration process and prevent further delays.