Local government uses app to track attendance of public servants

A government staff showing the app. [Photo/thepaper.cn]

The government in Linjiang, east China's Zhejiang Province, has been using an app to track the attendance of public servants. Local government employees are now required to sign in via the app when arriving at work and to update their locations while on business trips.

Government workers are registered in the app with their cellphone numbers, which enables the positioning systems on their phones to help verify their locations. While on business trips, they also need to take photos of their destinations with position markers to record their attendance.

"Our government staff have become more efficient, and fewer people are absent from work, late or leaving work early. As a result, our constituents could always get help when it is needed," said Hong Fangqing, a government employee of Taozhu Township in Zhejiang.

When a staff member takes a day off, the office automation functions in the app will inform his or her colleagues about the absence, allowing co-workers to make necessary arrangements.

The app also requires the employees to share their work online everyday, which is believed to create healthy competition and motivation among colleagues, said government employee Lu Tingting of Duqiao Township.

Staff also need to record their work and plans, which reflect their working habits, said Zhang Ming, a government staff member of Zhejiang's Taizhou Township.

Government employees' attendance records are displayed publicly via the app, showing tardiness, absences and early departures from work. These records then become an important part of the employees' annual evaluations.