How the Province of Antwerp modernised time registration for 2,100 employees without disrupting payroll

The Province of Antwerp is one of the largest public administrations in Belgium. With approximately 2,100 employees across a wide range of services, departments, and physical locations, workforce administration is anything but straightforward. Work patterns, schedules, and shift structures vary significantly from one department to the next. Any time registration system operating in this environment needs to handle that complexity at scale and connect cleanly with the province’s payroll infrastructure, where accuracy is non-negotiable.

At a Glance

• Customer: Province of Antwerp
• Sector: Public administration / government
• Scale: ~2,100 employees across multiple departments and locations
• Challenge: Simultaneous migration from a legacy system and live payroll integration, within a single month
• Products: prime Time (workforce management / time registration), Maintance, Training, Helpdesk Function
• Key outcomes: On-schedule go-live, zero disruption to payroll, cloud-ready infrastructure in place for 2,100 employees
• What they value: Ease of use, close contact, and continuity of service
  

Two systems, one deadline

In 2019, the province set a clear goal: modernise the full HR and IT infrastructure and make it fit for the future. XTremis, the existing system, had to go. Its replacement needed to connect directly with the e-calendar of payroll partner Cipal Schaubroeck, and that connection had to work from day one. Smooth interaction between time registration and payroll was the province’s primary requirement.

The complicating factor was the timeline. Both systems had to go live in the same month. Projects of this kind typically follow a sequential rollout, one system first, then the other. Here, prime Time had to be fully reparameterised to launch in parallel with the Cipal Schaubroeck integration. That meant significant programming work to ensure the two codebases could communicate correctly, covering everything from holiday balances and overtime to meal vouchers, cycling allowances, and travel reimbursements.

The province also had long-term goals on the table: better optimisation of work schedules and daily planning across the organisation. The new system had to serve as a foundation, not just a replacement.

The central requirement that could not be compromised: employees should feel no disruption. At all.

Why our Workforce Management was the right fit

William van der Kraan, team leader for personnel administration at the Province of Antwerp, describes prime Time as more than a time registration system. It had become an additional pay engine, handling variable compensation components that feed directly into the loonverwerking at Cipal Schaubroeck.

The combination of a powerful calculation engine, flexible mobile access, and a user-friendly interface made prime Time the right fit for a large, diverse public organisation. The system can handle the full range of work patterns across the province’s departments without custom workarounds. It runs cloud-based, with no installation requirements on the user side.

Primion had worked with the Province of Antwerp for years and understood the environment thoroughly. That existing knowledge reduced implementation risk significantly and gave both parties a shared foundation to work from.

The collaboration with Primion has always been good. They have consistently responded to our needs and requirements. By listening carefully and thinking along actively, a strong relationship of trust has developed over the years. That is a solid basis for continuing our professional partnership.

Team Lead Personeel Administration,
William van der Kraan

A Tight Timeline, Executed

The project started at the end of May. The go-live date was the following January. That left the summer for analysis, September and October for testing and optimisation, and November and December for training.

Approximately 300 managers and 1,700 employees needed to learn the system before go-live. With staff spread across multiple locations and a wide range of working arrangements, a traditional classroom training approach was not viable. William and Lydia found a different route. An intranet toolbox was built, housing instructional videos that managers and employees could access on their own terms, choosing content relevant to their specific role and schedule.

Mass training is not feasible in our organisation. We are a diverse organisation, with different ways of working, schedules and planning. Tailored learning was the message.

Administrative assistant,
Lydia Verwerft

The technical complexity sat in the integration layer. Specific workflows had to be developed to synchronise data between the three parties, prime Time, Cipal Schaubroeck, and the province. That alignment is an ongoing process, as employment regulations and collective agreements continue to evolve. The three-party collaboration remains active.

• Automated time tracking for 2,500+ employees, reducing administrative workload
• Faster, more secure visitor access, enhancing safety and efficiency
• Seveso-compliant evacuation tracking, ensuring real-time employee location data
• Seamless integration with existing badges, payroll, and reporting systems
• Scalable infrastructure for future growth and expansion

A successful implementation

The project launched on schedule. Both systems went live simultaneously, within the target month. The central objective of zero disruption to employees was achieved.

When COVID-19 arrived shortly after go-live, the province was already running on a stable cloud environment that supported remote working. The timing, which had felt ambitious during planning, turned out to be a significant advantage.

Primion gave us a stable cloud environment in which home working became possible.

Team Lead Personnel Administration,
William van der Kraan