What is a Pay Policy?
A pay policy is a named configuration that defines everything about how an employee's pay is calculated. It holds:
The computation method — how the daily and hourly rates are derived
The overtime rate — the base rate used for overtime pay
The leave pay rate — the rate applied to authorized leave days or hours
The absent pay rate — the rate applied when an employee has unauthorized absent days
The attendance data source — whether payroll uses Time and Attendance data or fixed configured hours
Think of it as a single place where all earning rate logic for a group of employees is configured.
2. Do I need more than one pay policy?
Only if different groups of employees work differently. For example, if your admin staff work standard office hours and your factory floor works fixed shifts, you might create one policy for each group. If all your employees work the same way, one policy is enough.
3. Can two employees in the same employment type have different pay policies?
Yes. Pay policy and employment type are separate things. Employment type governs tax, compliance, and statutory deductions. Pay policy governs how the salary rate is computed. Two employees can share the same employment type but have completely different pay policies.
4. Does every employee need a pay policy?
Yes. Once the feature is activated for your company, every employee must have a pay policy assigned before payroll can be run for them. When you activate, your account manager will help you set up the right policies and assign them to your employees.
5. Can I change an employee's pay policy after it has been assigned?
Yes, but only between payroll cycles — not during an active payroll period. Changes take effect at the start of the next payroll cycle to ensure your payroll records remain consistent and auditable.
6. What happens to my existing employees when I activate the new pay policy?
The first pay policy you create will be automatically assigned to all your existing employees as a starting point. You can then adjust individual employees to different policies if needed.
Your account manager will walk you through this during the activation session.
7. Can I create pay policies in bulk for many employees at once?
Yes. You can assign a pay policy to multiple employees at once by filtering by department and applying the policy to the entire filtered group. You can also include a pay policy code in your bulk employee upload template.