New Haven Upgraded Municipal Time Clocks
The city has replaced legacy fingerprint readers with new facial-recognition technology at 11 municipal locations.
Updated on Sept. 28, 2026 in Remote Work
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New Haven officials have transitioned 340 municipal employees to new facial-recognition time clocks. The update replaces older fingerprint hardware that the vendor no longer supports.
Why it matters
The upgrade is designed to enhance the efficiency of municipal payroll processing. City administrators opted for the change because the manufacturer discontinued technical support for the previous equipment.
The transition impacts 340 municipal employees across 11 city workplaces. The IT department reports that electronic payroll processing will now take under 15 minutes per week.
The players
New Haven IT Department
This department manages the technological infrastructure and digital systems for all municipal operations in the city.
Board of Alders
This is the legislative body of New Haven that provides oversight for city policy and municipal governance.
The details
The new UKG 9000 Model time clocks function by capturing facial geometry and converting it into encrypted numerical values. The system automatically deletes original images to ensure security, while the city notes that municipal and state governments are exempt from the Connecticut Data Privacy Act.
Timeline
The city first began using biometric fingerprint readers for timekeeping in 2010.
Connecticut passed the original Data Privacy Act in 2022.
The city completed the installation of new facial-recognition time clocks by September 2026.
Market Landscape
The adoption of advanced biometric hardware reflects a broader push toward digital automation within municipal workforce management. This shift moves the city away from legacy hardware dependency and toward standardized, vendor-supported cloud-integrated timekeeping systems.
For municipal employees, the move requires adopting a new daily clock-in routine using facial geometry rather than fingerprints. The shift aims to reduce administrative delays in payroll processing for the local workforce.
The takeaway
The move to facial-recognition technology highlights the necessity of upgrading aging municipal infrastructure as manufacturers discontinue legacy support. Employees should ensure their profiles are updated to maintain accurate timekeeping records under the new system.
Further reading
For broader context on how digital tools influence modern labor practices, see Remote Work.
Source note: This article includes information reported by New Haven Indy.
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