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The Branch Bill/Pay Settings allows you to define your baseline business rules for calculating overtime and pay factors. These rules are applied when calculating Shift Distributions for Scheduled and/or Worked shifts in a Branch.

A Shift Distribution is the breakdown of how a shift will be paid and billed. It separates the total hours of a shift into its components such as overtime, double overtime and statutory (holiday) hours.

From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Bill/Pay Settings. The Branch Bill/Pay Settings Screen should appear as show in the figure below.
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​Branch Bill/Pay Settings with Annotations

Bill/Pay Preferences allow you to define advance rules for processing bill and pay to comply with specific labor contracts or legislative requirements. From Branch Bill/Pay Settings, click the Preferences button on the Toolbar. The Preferences dialog box should appear as shown in the figure below.
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​Setting Hours Calculation:
The hours calculation rule sets the cutoff rule when a shift ends the following calendar day (i.e. a graveyard shift from 10pm to 6am). It is a fundamental rule needed to correctly measure the number of hours worked in a day.
The Shift Start Date option will allocate the total hours of a shift to the date when the shift started. The Calendar Date (Midnight Cutoff) option will allocate the total hours of a shift proportionately between the shift date and the next day. The difference between the hours calculation options are illustrated below based on a graveyard shift from 10pm to 6am (8 hours).

If the Calendar Date option is selected, use the "Shift Break Allocation" pull-down to define how you want to allocate break hours between the Current Day (Shift Date) and Next Day.

​Advanced Rules: eTime Xpress provides additional advanced hours allocation and rate calculation options to accommodate certain labor contracts or legislative requirements. To enable an advanced rule for bill and/or pay, check-on the applicable checkbox. This allows you to Pay Employees and Bill Customers differently for the same shift.

Overtime is calculated when the number of hours over a period exceeds a specified threshold. If you are configuring a Weekly, Bi-weekly, Tri-weekly and/or Quad-weekly overtime rule, you are required to specify the starting point for the applicable period. To specify a Bill/Pay Period, click on the Update button under Periods and define the start date of the applicable period(s).

​Note: For Bi-weekly, Tri-weekly and/or Quad-weekly periods, specify a start date corresponding to a period that starts and ends prior to your first scheduled shift. eTime Xpress will then extrapolate the start and end dates of all future periods.

Pay rates may be grossed up by a multiple or factor based on the hours type listed below. To specify Pay Rate Factors, click on the Update button under Pay Factors and define the applicable multiple or factor.

Overtime Thresholds allow you to define overtime rules based on daily, weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, quad-weekly and monthly periods.
To Add an Overtime Threshold:

Branch Rule Settings allow the definition of system rules governing certain validations, processes and calculations performed by the application. Filters can then be defined to apply system rules only when specified conditions are met.
Some examples of how the branch rules engine can be used are:

From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Settings > Branch Rule Settings. The Branch Rule Settings screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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​Rule Sub-Category Tab on Branch Rules Screen

​Rules Configuration Tab on Branch Rules Screen

Hours Type Thresholds allow you to define business rules based on the number of shift hours scheduled and/or worked by an employee.
To create an Hours Type Threshold Sub-Category:

To add an Hours Type Threshold Rule:

Shift Qualifications define the type of qualifications/skills required by an employee to work certain shifts. The system will validate that employees scheduled to shifts have the necessary qualifications/skills matching the shift qualification rule(s).
To create a Shift Qualification Sub-Category:

To add a Shift Qualification Rule:

Shift Restrictions prevent the creation of certain types of shifts. Prior to creating a restricted shift, a warning or error message will be displayed.
To create a Shift Restriction Sub-Category:

To add a Shift Restriction Rule:

Self-Scheduling Start Time allows you define which employees may select shifts published for self-scheduling in advance of a shift's self-scheduling publish time.
To create a Self-Scheduling Start Time Sub-Category:

To add a Self-Scheduling Start Time Rule:

Specify the rule priority using the ordering controls (Move Up and Move Down buttons) to define when the rule should be run, if required. Self-Scheduling Start Time rules are processed on a 'First Match' basis (see Appendix 2 – Rule Processing).

Shift Locations allows you to auto-assign a location type to a shift. When a shift's location field is blank, the system will attempt to auto-assign a location type based on the branch's shift location rules.
To create a Shift Locations Sub-Category:

To add a Shift Locations Rule:

Specify the rule priority using the ordering controls (Move Up and Move Down buttons) to define when the rule should be run, if required. Shift Locations rules are processed on a 'First Match' basis (see Appendix 2 – Rule Processing).

Minimum Rest Period allows you to define a minimum time period between shifts.
To create a Minimum Rest Period Sub-Category:

To add a Minimum Rest Period Rule:

Specify the rule priority using the ordering controls (Move Up and Move Down buttons) to define when the rule should be run, if required. Minimum Rest Period rules are processed on a 'First Match' basis (see Appendix 2 – Rule Processing).

When a shift occurs on a Statutory Day (Holiday), the associated hours may be broken-out as Statutory hours for billing and/or payroll purposes. Statutory days can be setup to apply to all shifts worked at a Branch or customized to apply to specific Employees and Sites.
From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Settings > Branch Statutory Days. The Branch Statutory Days screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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Branch Statutory Days
To Add a Statutory Day:

​Note: For each Statutory Day, you can define how a Statutory Day rule is applied by toggling between Yes and No for Bill, Pay, Employee and Site. For example, the combination Bill (No), Pay (Yes), Employee (Yes) and Site (Yes) results in shifts being billed normally and paid as a Statutory Day.

The Employee (Yes/No) and Site (Yes/No) values of a Branch Statutory Day record are used as the initial 'Apply?' value in the Employee Statutory Days and Site Statutory Days screens, respectively. You can customize the Statutory Day rules for Employees and Sites by selecting which Statutory Days to 'Apply'.

​To customize Employee Statutory Days:
From the Main Menu, click Employee > Employee Statutory Days. The Employee Statutory Days screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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Employee Statutory Days
Employee Statutory Days lists all of the Statutory days defined for the Branch and whether a Statutory Day applies for bill or pay purposes. To turn off a Statutory Day rule, double-click on the record - the value in the 'Apply?' column will toggle between 'yes' and 'no'.

​To customize Site Statutory Days:
From the Main Menu, click Customers > Site Statutory Days. The Site Statutory Days screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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Site Statutory Days
Site Statutory Days lists all of the Statutory days defined for the Branch and whether a Statutory Day applies for bill or pay purposes. To turn off a Statutory Day rule, double-click on the record - the value in the 'Apply?' column will toggle between 'yes' and 'no'.

When a shift occurs during a Daylight Savings Time change, the total hours of a shift can be automatically adjusted for the time change. A "spring" Forward rule would subtract one hour from a shift whereas a "fall" Back rule would add one hour to a shift.
From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Daylight Savings Times. The Branch Daylight Savings Time Changes screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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​Branch Daylight Savings Times
To Add a Daylight Savings Time Change:

Unpaid breaks can be defined so that breaks are deducted from the shift's total hours when calculating billing and payroll information.
By default, you can enter breaks manually when you add or update a shift. Branch Break Thresholds simplifies the entry of breaks by auto-completing the Break field when a shift length exceeds a certain number of hours. When enabled, the Break field will be auto-completed after you specify the Start and End times of a shift (note: you may still override the break field by manually typing in the break).
From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Break Thresholds. The Branch Break Thresholds screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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​Branch Break Thresholds
To Add a Branch Break Threshold:

​Note: Break Thresholds can also be defined at the Employee and Site level. To select which Break Threshold rules to apply, go to Site Main screen, select the applicable Site, click the Billing Settings tab and choose the applicable rule under the Break Thresholds field.

When Time Off records are entered, the Debit Amount is the number of hours to be charged against an Employee's Time Off entitlement balance. For example, if an Employee is away on sick leave, the Employee would be unavailable for the entire day (24 hour period) but the Debit Amount would only be up to the standard work day of say 8 hours.

By default, you can enter Debit Amounts manually when you add or update a Time Off record as shown in the figure below.
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Time Off Schedule – Time Off Record Entry
Branch Debit Thresholds simplifies the entry of debit amounts by auto-completing the debit amount field when a Time Off record exceeds a certain number of hours. When enabled, the Debit Amount field will be auto-completed after you specify the Start and End times when entering a Time Off record (note: you may still override the Debit Amount field by manually typing in the debit amount).

From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Time Off Debit Thresholds. The Branch Time Off Debit Thresholds screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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Branch Time Off Debit Thresholds
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To Add a Branch Time Off Debit Threshold:

Note: If the debit amount is entered as zero, the system will calculate the debit amount to be equal to the total length of the time off period. To allow for zero debit amounts, create a Time Off Debit Threshold where Time Off code = '*', minimum Time Off length = 0 and the Debit Amount = 0.

Recurring Allowances are rules that can be created to automatically attach allowances (i.e. mileage, meals etc.) based on predefined shift criteria.
From the Main Menu, click Configuration > Company & Branch > Branch Recurring Allowances. The Branch Recurring Allowances screen should appear as shown in the figure below.
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Recurring Allowances

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To Add a Recurring Allowance:

To Apply Recurring Allowances:

​Note: To define Allowance codes go to Administration menu > Configuration > Codes Maintenance. From the Codes Maintenance screen, select 'Shift Allowance Code' and click the Add button to create a new Allowance Code.

To access Schedule Change Acknowledgements you'll need to click Configuration > Company/Branch > Branch > Branch Notifications.

From here, you'll see the below. Please ensure it is turned on for use.

Here, we will provide a breakdown of the notes inside of the green box.

Acknowledgement missed interval - 3 days. If the shift is less than 3 days from now and the employee has not yet acknowledged it, an visual shift status icon will be shown. Thumbs-up with a X in it.

Acknowledgement required interval - 7 days. If the shift is less than 7 days from now and the employee has not yet acknowledged it, then the notification email will go out at the programmed time.

Acknowledgement allowed interval - 14 days. If the shift is less than 14 days away, the employee will be able to acknowledge it. The won't actually get emails until 7 days before the shift, but they could 'get ahead of the game' and acknowledge it up to 14 days away. A shift more than 14 days away will not be acknowledgeable, even if the shift is visible in TeamXP.

Click the employee tab to see the employee setup. Here, you can choose the distribution method, and the timing of your notifications.

The section that defines the time means the message for any schedule change will be notified one a day at this time to an employee, should they have any changes they need to be made aware of. They will need to acknowledge these changes in their Team Xpress app, or they will be resent the message the following day.

For more information on any of the above, please contact us now!