HRplus Time (Setup - Shifts)
Setup - Shifts
What are the steps required when creating a new shift?
There are several steps involved when creating a new shift. They are as follows:
HRplus Time>>Schedules>>Shift Parameters>>Shifts
Step 1 - SHIFT SETUP: How to create a new shift?
Shifts
A shift is defined as the time period in which an employee is expected to report to work. Shift work can include evening, night and early morning shifts as well as a fixed or rotating schedule.
Shift times are based on the 24-hour clock. Shifts define the criteria for each working day of the week: the start and end time of each day in the work week ( Monday to Sundays).
Step 1: Create a New Shift
Company: Select your company from the drop down list.
Shift Code: Enter the shift code which should reference the shift description.
Step 2: Enter the Shift Definition
Shift Description: Enter the shift description. The description should include the name of the schedule to which it is linked ( if it is a shift specifically for that schedule) as well as the time of the shift.
Start Time: Click on the clock icon to select the time that the shift starts. E.g. 8:00am
End Time: Click on the clock icon to select the time that the shift starts. E.g. 5:00pm
Shift Cut Off: The shift cut off time applies floating employees on consecutive shifts. If the employees are not "floating" or consecutive shifts are not being used, then enter the shift cut off time as the end time of the shift.
If the shift cut off time is being used as intended, then the times should be entered based on the following rules:
If the employee punches in for work on or before the cut of time of that shift, then they are assigned to that shift.
If the employee punches in for work after the cut of time of a shift, then their placed on the next consecutive shift in the sequence.
Monday to Friday ONLY:
If employees can ONLY be assigned to work on this shift from Monday to Friday, then flag YES.
If employees can be assigned to work this shift on weekends as well as Monday to Friday, then flag NO.
Pay Holidays: If employees can work this shift on a Public holiday and they should be paid, then flag YES. Otherwise, flag NO.
Step 2.1: Setup Lunch Punch
Use Lunch Punch: If employees must punch in and out for lunch when they work on this shift, select 'Yes'. Otherwise flag NO.
Salaried Paid Lunch:
For both 'Salaried Paid Lunch' and 'Non Salaried Paid Lunch select from the following:
Do Not Deduct Lunch - If this option is selected, this means that the employees are paid for lunch and it is NOT deducted from their pay for the day.
Deduct Lunch Based on Punches - If this option is selected, then lunch is not paid. Lunch time deducted For the employees based on when they punch in and out for lunch. E.g. If an employee punches in and out for lunch for a 30 minute period, then this is what is deducted for their lunch period, regardless if the lunch time of the shift is set to 1 hour.
Deduct Standard Lunch - If this option is selected, then the standard lunch period will be deducted from the employee's salary even if they have taken more or less than the standard lunch time. For example if an employee takes 15 mins lunch and the standard lunch period is one hour, then one (1) hour's worth of the employee's salary will STILL not be paid for that day.
d) Deduct Standard Lunch with Excess - the standard lunch period and any extra time taken beyond the company's standard time will be deducted from the employee's salary. For example if the employee goes beyond their standard lunch hour by 15 mins then 1hr and 15 minutes worth of the employee's salary will not be paid for that day.
e) Deduct Excess Lunch Only - only the excess time the employee has taken beyond their standard lunch period will be deducted. For example, if an employee took an extra 15mins to their standard hour lunch period, then ONLY 15mins worth of the employee's salary will not be paid for that day.
You have two options as it relates to how you wish for the application to treat with company lunch
times. The first way is by using Lunch Punches. Lunches punches are to be selected if your company
Lunch Punch vs Lunch Range
wants to record the actual time employees are using for their lunch periods compared to a set time (Standard Lunch) all employees must adhere to. The Lunch range on the other hand is to be used when employees assigned to this shift have various lunch times (there is no Standard Lunch period). The lunch range tells the application within which times in the day can an employee take their lunch times. Lunch range is used typically for organizations that cannot have all of their employees out for lunch at the same time as it will negatively impact productivity.
Step 2.2: Setup Lunch Range
If using the Lunch Range, select 'Yes'.
Enter the Lunch Range by using the clock icons (this is the time frame in which employees may take their lunch time)
Enter the length of the lunch time (in minutes)
In our example, below, employees assigned to this shift can take their lunch anywhere between 11:00am and 2:00pm for a period of 60 minutes
Step 2.3: Setup Maximum Punch Variance
The Maximum punch variance is the amount of time (in minutes) outside of the shift start time and/ or end time, that an employee can punch for their shift and those punches will be associated with that shift. If the employee punches outside of the maximum punch variance, then those punches will be associated with either the previous shift they were scheduled on or the next subsequent shift that they are scheduled on.
The shift variance is especially important for shifts which end on a different day from which they started. It is also critical for split or second shifts which may have a shorter time period between shifts and punches for one shift can be mistakenly associated with the wrong shift.
Example 1
An employee may be punching OUT late for their normal/first shift and the application may incorrectly assign that as an IN punch for the second shift.
The employee is rostered to work two shifts on one day. The first shift is from 8:00am - 1:00pm and the second shift is from 5:00pm - 10:00pm. If the employee punches out 2:30pm for their normal/ first shift, then in order for the application not to assign the 2:30pm punch as an IN PUNCH for the second/split shift, the variance must be assigned. For this shift, if there is generally a 4 hour time period in between the first and second shift, the punch variance can be set to 2 hours (120minutes) so that if the employee has to work late up to 2 hours after the end time of the shift, their punch will still be taken as an OUT PUNCH for their normal/first shift. This also means that if the employee punches in up to 2 hours (120 minutes) before the start time of their second/split shift, that punch will be taken as an IN PUNCH for the second/split shift.
The maximum punch variance minimizes the chances of having punches associated with the wrong shift in scenarios similar to the one described above.
Example 2
If a shift ends at 4:00 pm on Monday but no other shifts are set up for the employee after Monday, and the employee punches in on Tuesday at 8:00 am(remember no shift is set up for him), then in order for the Tuesday 8:00 am punch to not be seen as an OUT PUNCH for Monday, we must set the variance of the shift. So if the variance is 240 minutes (4 hours), then punches up 8:00 pm will be taken to be an OUT for Monday and that the 8:00 am punch on Tuesday will go into the unprocessed punches.
So what we are looking for here is the amount of time in minutes an employee shift might extend either at the start or end of the shift, this so his/her punch can be flagged by the system as an IN or OUT punch for that shift instead of sending the punch , this if the employee is not schedule for any other shift after that one.
Save the record and repeat to add more shifts.
HRplus Time >> Schedules >> Shift Parameters >> Shifts >> Shift Rounding Rules
Step 2 - SHIFT SETUP: How to setup Shift Rounding Rules?
Shift Rounding Rules
Rounding rules allow an organization to set the parameters by which the employee punch times are to be rounded for payment. These rules can be set for both in and out punches as well as lunch punches.
to round the employee punch in and punch out time as well as their lunch breaks and this ultimately has the impact of rounding the number of calculated hours that an employee worked on a shift.
Enter a New Shift Rounding Rule
Company Code/Name : Select the Company for which you are setting up shifts.
Shift Code: Select the shift for which you are setting up the rounding rules.
Rounding
Use Rounding: Select Yes or No to indicate whether or not to use the rounding rules.
Round with Truncation: Select this option if rounding is to be used and the time before the start of the shift is NOT to be paid.
Round without Truncation: Select this option if rounding is to be used and the time before the start of the shift IS to be paid.
Round In Before : Enter the time (in minutes) that would be rounded to the start time of the shift if the employee arrives early. E.g. if the shift starts at 8:00 am and an employee clocks in at 7:45 am and there is a value of 15 (minutes) in this field, the 15 minutes before the scheduled shift time will be rounded to the actual start time of the shift.
Note that this works together with the Round in Before Type to determine if the employee will be paid for not or this extra 15 minutes.
- If Round with Truncation is selected and 15 minutes entered, this means that:
If an employee arrives up to 15 minutes before their shift, then the time will be rounded in to the start of the shift and that 15 minutes will not be paid.
If an employee arrives 16 or more minutes before the start of their shift, then that time will not be rounded to the start of the shift and the time will not be paid.
- If Round without Truncation is selected and 15 minutes entered, this means that:
If an employee arrives up to 15 minutes before their shift, then the time will be rounded in to the start of the shift and that 15 minutes will be paid.
If an employee arrives 16 or more minutes before the start of their shift, then that time will not be rounded to the start of the shift and the time will not be paid.
Round with Truncation: Select this option if rounding is to be used and the time after the end of the shift is NOT to be paid.
Round without Truncation: Select this option if rounding is to be used and the time after the end of shift IS to be paid.
Round In After : Enter the time (in minutes) that would be rounded to the end time of the shift if the employee leaves after the shift, e.g. if the shift ends at 4:00 pm and an employee clocks out at 4:15 pm and there is a value of 15 (minutes) in this field, then the additional 15 minutes will be rounded to the scheduled end time of the shift. Note that this works together with the Truncation rules to determine if the employee will be paid or not for this extra 15 minutes.
- If Round with Truncation is selected and 15 minutes entered, this means that:
If an employee leaves up to 15 minutes after their shift has ended, then the time will be rounded back to the end of the shift and that 15 minutes will not be paid.
If an employee leaves 16 or more minutes after the end of their shift, then that time will not be rounded to the end of the shift and the time will not be paid.
- If Round without Truncation is selected and 15 minutes entered, this means that:
If an employee leaves up to 15 minutes after the end of their shift, then the time will be rounded to the end of the shift and that 15 minutes will be paid.
If an employee leave 16 or more minutes before the start of their shift, then that time will not be rounded to the end of the shift and the time will not be paid.
Rounding Examples
Use Grace: Click Yes or No to indicate if a grace period should be used for the shift.
Grace In After: Enter the grace time (in minutes) that the employee is allowed. This is the time within which the employee is allowed to arrive on the shift and not be considered late. If the employee arrives within the grace period (after the scheduled shift start time), their "in punch" time
is rounded back to the start time of the shift.
Grace
Note that a late record will still be generated for the employee as the primary purpose of the grace here is so that late minutes are not deducted from the total hours worked for the shift and the employee's pay is not negatively impacted.
Grace Out Before: Enter the grace time (in minutes) that the employee is allowed. This is the time within which the employee is allowed to leave the shift before the scheduled end and not be considered to having an early departure. If the employee clocks out within the grace period, their "out punch"time is rounded forward to the end time of the shift.
Note that an early departure record will still be generated for the employee's as the primary purpose of the grace here is so that minutes are not deducted from the total hours worked for the shift and the employee's pay is not negatively impacted.
Use Rounding Rules: Click Yes or No.
Note that this works together with the first set of rounding rules above. If YES is set here, then YES must also be selected in the first set of Rounding Rules as defined above.
Start Time Round Type: Select either Forward, Backward, Nearest or None to indicate that which applies to the rounding rule for the start time.
Forward: This will round the start time forward to the next value (in the Round Start Time To field). This means that whatever time the employee punches in, then their start time is rounded forward to the value set, and they will be paid in intervals based on the time set in minutes.
Additional Punch Rounding
E.g. If the shift start time is 8:00 am and the employee punches in at 8:07 am, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid from 8:15 am.
Backward: This will round the start time backward to the next value (in the Round Start Time To field). This means that whatever time the employee punches in, then their start time is rounded backward to the value set, and they will be paid in 15 minute intervals.
E.g. If the shift start time is 8:00 am and the employee punches in at 8:07 am, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid from 8:00 am.
Nearest: This will round the start time to the nearest value (in the Round Start Time To field).
If the shift start time is 8:00 am and the employee punches in at 8:07 am, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid from 8:00 am as that is the nearest 15 minute interval.
If the shift start time is 8:00 am and the employee punches in at 8:08 am, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid from 8:15 am as that is the nearest 15 minute interval.
None: There will be do rounding to the employee's adjusted "in punch" time.
Round Start Time To: Enter the time (in minutes) for the rounding to be applied to an employee’s punch before or after the scheduled start time of the shift. E.g. 15, 30, etc.
Note that this works together with the Start Time Round Type selected above.
End Time Round Type: Select either Forward, Backward, Nearest or None to indicate that which applies to the rounding rule for the end time.
Forward: This will round the end time forward to the next value (in the Round End Time To field). This means that whatever time employee leaves at the end of their shift, then their end time is rounded forward to the value set, and they will be paid in intervals based on the time set in minutes.
E.g. If the shift end time is 4:00 pm and the employee punches in at 4:07 pm, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid until 4:15 pm.
Backward: This will round the end time backward to the next value (in the Round End Time To field). This means that whatever time employee leaves at the end of their shift, then their end time is rounded backward to the value set, and they will be paid in intervals based on the time set in minutes.
E.g. If the shift end time is 4:00 pm and the employee punches out at 4:07 pm, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid until 4:00 pm.
Nearest: This will round the end time to the nearest value (in the Round Start Time To field)
If the shift end time is 4:00 pm and the employee punches out at 4:07 pm, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid until 4:00 pm as that is the nearest 15 minute interval.
If the shift end time is 4:00 pm and the employee punches out at 4:08 pm, and the value set is 15 minutes, then they will be paid until 4:15 pm as that is the nearest 15 minute interval.
None: There will be do rounding to the employee's adjusted "out punch" time.
Round End Time To: Enter the time (in minutes) for the rounding to be applied to an employee’s punch before or after the scheduled end time of the shift. E.g. 15, 30, etc.
Note that this works together with the End Time Round Type selected above.
Note that all of these rules, i.e. Rounding, Grace and Additional Rounding work together to round
the employee times to the organization's specification.
Additionally, these rounding rules are calculated when the attendance logs are posted to the timesheets and can be seen in the "Adjusted Time" field on the employee's timesheet as shown
below.
Timesheet View of Adjusted Times showing Rounding Rules outcome
HRplus Time >> Schedules >> Payment Rules
Step 3 - SHIFT SETUP : How to create a payment rule?
Payment Rules
The Payment Rules defined here determine how Straight Time and Overtime is paid for each pay group. Payment rules can also be defined where overtime is calculated by the day or by the week where a set number of hours must be worked before overtime is applied.
N.B. Prior to creating any payment rules, all earning codes must be created for straight time and overtime for both current and retro payments. See the link below for details:
How to create an earning code?
There are three steps to creating a payment rule as follows:
Create a New Payment Rule
Setup the Payment Rule Details
Company: Select the company for which you are creating the payment rule.
Payment Rule Code: Enter the Payment Rule code as an acronym of the description.
Payment Rule Description: Enter the Payment Rule Description.
Basic Hours in Week: Enter the basic number of hours that make up the week. E.g. 40
Calculate Overtime: Select either by week, by day, by day then week, by fortnight, by day then fortnight.
Call Out: Select from the drop down list, the respective earning type under which the employee will be paid if they are called out for their shift.
In the Straight Time field, select the respective earning code under which Straight Time is to be paid for approved timesheets where the dates align with the cycle in which they are being paid. Note that this code must be different from the earning code under which the Basic or Regular salary is paid.
In the Overtime 1 to 4 fields, select the respective earning code under which Overtime Time is to be paid for approved timesheets dated in the cycle to which they belong. This defines the overtime rate for up to four levels.
In the Straight Time field, select the respective earning code under which Retroactive Straight Time is to be paid for approved timesheets dated prior to the cycle in which they are being paid. Note that this code must be different from the earning code under which the Basic or Regular Retroactive salary is paid.
In the Overtime 1 to 4 fields, select the respective earning code under which Retroactive Overtime Time is to be paid for approved timesheets dated prior to the cycle in which they are being paid. This defines the overtime rate for up to four levels.
Save the record and define the overtime hours in the next tab.
If Overtime is calculated by the day, then enter the overtime hours for Sunday to Saturday and
Public Holidays as shown in the example above.
Basic Rate for the First Hrs: Enter the number of hours which are paid at the basic rate/ straight time rate which was flagged in the previous screen. e.g. 8, 9, etc.
OT Rate 1: Enter the hours after basic from which OT Rate 1 will be applied. e.g. from 8-12, 9-13, etc.
OT Rate 2: Enter the hours after OT Rate 1 from which OT Rate 2 will be applied. e.g. from 7.5-11.5, 8-12, 9-13, etc.
OT Rate 3: Enter the hours after OT Rate 2 from which OT Rate 3 will be applied. e.g. 12-16,
12-24, etc. If there is no rate to be applied after OT Rate 3, then all hours can be accounted for in the example of 12-24 hours.
OT Rate 4: Enter the hours after OT Rate 3 from which OT Rate 4 will be applied. e.g. 16-24, 24.
Save the record and repeat to enter additional payment rules.
Setup Overtime Hours -Overtime by the Day Example
When defining the Overtime Hours for any one day, ALL overtime levels must be completed and no fields must be left blank.
Setup Overtime Hours - Overtime by the Week Example
Navigation: HRplus Time>>Schedule>>Payment Rules>>Shifts-Payment Rule Link
Step 4 - SHIFT SETUP : How to link a payment rule to a shift?
Shifts must be linked to a Payment Rule for the employees to be paid when the timesheets are posted into the cycle changes of the Payroll module.
Before a payment rule is linked to a shift, please ensure the following tasks have been completed:
Select the Shift-Payment Rule Link
Company: Select the Company that you wish to link the shift and payment rule for.
Payment Rule Code: Click on the magnifying glass icon and then select the payment rule that is to be linked to the shift.
Shift Description: Click on the drop down arrow to see the list of shifts and select the one to be linked to the payment rule. Note that these shifts visible here are by default those which have been created and linked to the company which was selected.
Save the record and repeat to link additional payment rules to shifts.
HRplus Time >> Schedules >> Shift Allowance Templates
Step 5 - SHIFT SETUP: How to create a Shift Allowance Rule?
Shift Allowance
Shift allowances allow you to process allowances for employees against their timesheets. All allowances can be processed ( Call-out, On-call, Shift Premiums,Meal, Traveling, etc.
How it works:
Set up an Allowance.
Link allowances to shifts. You can link any allowance to any shift.
Generate allowances for employees.
View/edit/delete/process allowances for employees via Timekeeper>>Timekeeper Timesheets>>Current.
The system verifies both the Allowance parameters and the employee’s Timesheet entries before generating the allowances.
The allowances are generated in the Cycle Changes, in the relevant Pay Cycle for normal payroll processing.
Step 1: Create a New Allowance
How to Create a New Allowance?
Step 2: Create a New Shift Allowance Template
Company: From the drop down list, select the Company for which you are creating the allowance
rule.
Pay Group: From the drop down list, select the Pay Group to which the allowance rule will apply. Allowance: From the drop down list, select the Allowance to which the parameters will be applied. Pay Regardless of Timesheet being Paid: Select Yes or No. This field refers to cases in which:
the timesheets may not yet be approved but allowances still need to be paid. In such an instance, select Yes (i.e. to pay the allowance regardless of the timesheet) else select No.
employees may be on call and still need to paid their allowances. The system will check to ensure that the employee is on call before generating the allowance.
To define the group of employees to which the allowance applies, complete the following fields:
Apply To: Select from Salaried, Non-Salaried, All.
Employee Equivalent: Select from Full Time, Part Time, All
To define how the allowance amount is to be calculated, complete the following fields:
Step 2.1: Define Allowance Parameters
Pay On Call: If Yes is selected, then the allowance will be paid to employees who are on call duty (who are on standby to be called out to work). A timesheet entry which flags a check box, indicates that an employee is on-call.
Min Entitlement Hours: Enter the minimum number of hours (if any) an employee has to work to be entitled to the allowance.
Pay Allowance On: Select either Flat Amount, Flat Amount + Hours, Hours. This selection allows you to define the dollar amount of the allowance to be paid. Hours will be obtained from the employee’s timesheet.
Flat Amount: If either Flat Amount or Flat Amount + Hours is selected in the above field, then enter the amount here. The system will use this amount to calculate the allowance amount.
Pay Per Day: Select Yes if the flat amount is to be paid per day or No if the flat amount is the dollar amount of the allowance.
Multiply Hours By: If either Flat Amount + Hours or Hours is selected in the above field, then enter the rate by which the hours should be multiplied to obtain the allowance dollar amount.
Apply Employee Rate as part of Calculation: If Yes is selected, then the system will use the employee rate to calculate the allowance. If No is selected, then the system will use the rate in the Multiply Hours By field.
Pay After Basic: Select Yes to indicate if the allowance should be paid after the employee’s basic hours.
Pay After Basic On Every….Hours: If Yes is selected, then enter the number of hours after which the allowance should be paid. For example, if an employee’s normal basic hours is 12 (as defined in Pay Rules), and 4 is entered in the Pay After Basic On Every….Hours field, then the allowance will be generated for the employee, based on his/her timesheet entries, after every 4 hours worked.
To define the days for which the allowance should be paid, complete the following fields:
Days To Apply: Select either All Days, Holidays Only, Non-Holidays Only.
Productive To Apply: Select either All Days, Productive Only (Days Worked), Non-Productive Only (Days Not Worked)
Week To Apply: Select either All Days, Weekdays Only, Weekends Only
Status: Select Active or Inactive. Inactive allowances are not processed by the system.
Company: Select the company that the allowance rule was created for.
Department Code:
If the allowance rule is to be applied to ALL departments, then leave the default asterisk as the selected option.
If the allowance rules applies to specific department(s), then select the department from the drop down list. A separate record will have to be created for each department to which the allowance rule must be applied.
Job Code:
Step 3: Link Allowances to a Shift
If the allowance rule is to be applied to ALL jobs within the selected department, then leave the default asterisk as the selected option.
If the allowance rules applies to specific jobs(s), then select the job from the drop down list. A separate record will have to be created for each job and department combination to which the allowance rule must be applied.
Shift Description: Select the shift which is to be linked to the allowance rule. If an employee works on this shift, they will be entitled to receive this allowance one they qualify based on the set parameters.
Allowance: Select the allowance rule which is to be linked to the shift.
Save the record and repeat to add more records.
HRplus Time>>Schedules>>Scheduling>>Schedule>>Schedules
OR
Timekeeper >> Schedules>>Scheduling>>Schedule>>Schedules
Step 6 - SHIFT SETUP: How to link Shifts to a Schedule?
Shift Schedules
Shifts must be linked to the schedules so that employees who are added to those schedules can be rostered for work on the linked shifts.
Pre-requisites:
Shifts must be created. To do so, review the How to enter a new shift article
Schedules must be created. To do so, review the How to create a new schedule article
Step 1. Expand Schedule.
Step 2. Add Shifts to your Schedule
Step 2.1 Select the Company and Shift to link to the Schedule
Company: Select your company from the drop down list.
Schedule Code: The schedule code is auto populated based on the schedule record you have expanded. In our example we have expanded on the Sales Schedule therefor the schedule code comes up as 'SALES'
Shift: Select the shift code from the drop down list of shifts which are linked to your company. All the shift details will be filled automatically from the shift parameters which were set when the shift was created.
Shift Sequence: The shift sequence is a numerical representation of the order in which the shifts ought to be applied for employees who are flagged as floating employees and who work on consecutive shifts. Consecutive shifts are those which are sequenced one after the other and do not overlap. e.g. 8:00am - 4:00pm, 4:01pm-12:00am, 12:01am - 7:59am.
If consecutive shifts are not being used, then the sequence "1"can be entered for all shifts linked to the schedule.
Save the record and enter a new record to link another shift to the schedule.
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