Pay rates and loadings

	Pay Rates and Loadings	Base Pay Rate Wage Easy Payroll uses a unique pay rate reference system to simplify the set up and maintenance. The base pay rate is specified for each employee and then Wage Easy Payroll works out their payment amounts by reference to this base pay rate, and loading factors specified in the award file. This means that employees covered under the same award, but having different pay rates, can use the same award file in Wage Easy Payroll, thus significantly reducing the amount of information required.
	Although the pay rates and award information will often be obtained from the same published awards, they are stored in separate records in Wage Easy Payroll. It is therefore very quick and easy to review and enter the base pay rates. Base pay rate and award data can be automatically downloaded via the internet if the business is a member of an applicable employer association. To allow maximum flexibility, an employee's base pay rate can easily be altered at the pay slip preparation stage. An employee can also be paid at multiple base pay rates during the one pay period, be it part of an hour, day, or week. The Wage Easy Payroll system links the base pay rate to the department in which an employee works. To allow for circumstances where an employee may be required to work in different departments, it is possible to set more than one predefined department / base pay rate record for an employee. During the pay slip preparation stage when the operator nominates the times worked in various departments for the period, Wage Easy Payroll automatically applies the appropriate base pay rate.
	Loadings The factors used for calculating the various loadings are specified in each award file. Most loadings are specified as a percentage of the base pay rate, and are paid on top of the base pay rate. For example, the base pay rate under an award for Level A Cook may be $10 per hour. The Casual Cook award file may specify a normal time loading of 30%, thus giving a normal time pay rate of $13 per hour. The Full Time Cook award file may specify a normal time loading of 0% as a full time level A cook is only entitled to $10 per hour for normal work time. In calculating the loading payments, the predefined arrangement is for Wage Easy Payroll to pay the highest applicable loading for each minute worked. Thus, for example, overtime worked on a public holiday will be paid at the higher of public holiday or overtime rates. However, it can also be configured so that any or all loadings can be paid on top of other required loadings. When establishing an award file, most loading factors are predefined in a standard configuration that is suitable for many employment arrangements. However, a powerful feature of Wage Easy Payroll is its ability to accept many variations to the simple award arrangements. Some of these features are outlined below, and in other sections of this document. Overtime loading can be configured for work above normal daily hours, for weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday. Overtime can also be set for work in excess of specified hours for the whole pay period, and can be triggered by a fixed or rolling overtime period. It is also possible to nominate certain days such as RDO's, public holidays, Saturdays or Sundays, for inclusion or exclusion in the overtime period. There are many loading options in regard to shift workers. The basic shift loading (before and after loading) can be separately configured for Monday to Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Loading factors can be set for a daily minimum and maximum, and multiple rates can be set for varying time periods before and after the scheduled shift times. A split shift loading can be set to cover for an excessive break between segments of a shift. It is also possible to specify a meal break loading to cover the situation where the shift work continues for a period beyond which a specified minimum meal break should have been taken. The meal break loading can be set at multiple rates, to achieve a stepped scale, depending on the hours worked. The shift loading, meal break loading, and split shift loadings can be paid as a percentage of the base pay rate, or at a flat dollar rate. Shift loadings can be nominated to continue across midnight if required, to ensure that any shift is treated as one shift, rather than two. Salaried staff pay rates are usually worked out on the basis of a nominal pay period. For example, an employee on a salary of $1000 per fortnight may be set up with a base pay rate of $10 per hour, a nominal work period of 100 hours, and a normal time loading of 0%. The pay slip preparation for staff employees can then be semi-automated by copying the time sheet for subsequent pay periods. The above items show just some of the employment conditions that can be catered for by Wage Easy Payroll. There are many more predefined factors that may be set, as well as the ability to customise the award arrangements by using the in-built scripting option. Wage Easy Payroll has the most extensive capabilities in the award interpretation area of any payroll package on the market in Australia.