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State employees recognized for suggestions to improve productivity

38 employees’ ideas expected to save state nearly $350,000

FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 11, 2015) — Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen and Personnel Secretary Tim Longmeyer today recognized 38 state employees for their suggestions to improve the productivity and services offered by the state.

The employees’ ideas were submitted through the Kentucky Employee Suggestion System or KESS, and are expected to save the commonwealth nearly $350,000 in the first year alone.

kentucky_seal_resized2Administered by the Personnel Cabinet, KESS was established in 1981 to encourage employees to practice good management and to share ideas for improving operations. Since 1996, the commonwealth has realized more than $47 million in first-year savings.

Suggestions that result in the improvement of state service or financial savings can be approved for implementation. Submissions are first evaluated at the cabinet level and, if implemented, are then sent to the Kentucky Employee Suggestion System Council for recommendation of a monetary award.

Cash awards can be provided and may range from a minimum of $100 to 10 percent of the first year’s documented or estimated savings, up to a maximum of $2,500. One hundred dollars may be given for ideas that are adopted but have intangible savings.

David Stone, an employee with the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, suggested that the landline phones in the Department of Criminal Justice Training dorm rooms be removed, since cellphone usage is so widely accepted. Two landlines per floor at the dormitory were maintained and 125 landlines eliminated, creating an annual savings of $21,000. Stone received an award of $2,100.

Brian Beaven, an employee with the Division of Motor Carriers in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, suggested that two Kentucky Automated Truck Screening (KATS) Systems be used at Kentucky weigh stations to read license plates and U.S. Department of Transportation numbers on trucks. These automated systems are able to identify the commercial vehicles that owe Kentucky tax dollars or the ones that have not purchased the proper temporary permits to travel through the state, thus recouping more than $162,000 in fees. Beaven received an award of $2,500.