The agreement hierarchy in Rates and Rules is used to organise pay and bill agreements and to determine whether an agreement or rule applies to a particular job order. When you configure a pay or bill agreement, you assign it to a level of the agreement hierarchy. This hierarchy level tells the system what the agreement applies to (for example, a country, client, or payee).
Agreement Hierarchy Levels
The agreement hierarchy runs from the highest (broadest) level to the lowest (most specific) level. Agreements and rules at lower levels are considered more specific.
Hierarchy levels (from highest to lowest)
Hierarchy Level | Description |
Country | Country to which the agreement applies. |
Brand | Agency brand to which the agreement applies. |
State | State or province within a country to which the agreement applies. |
Region | Geographic region within a country to which the agreement applies. |
Office | Agency office to which the agreement applies. |
Parent Client | Parent company of a client to which the agreement applies. |
Client | Client to which the agreement applies. |
Client Job Template | Client job template to which the agreement applies. This level is available only when processing back pay. |
Cost Centre | Client cost centre to which the agreement applies. |
Employment Type | Employment type to which the agreement applies (for example: full time, part time). |
Payee | Payee to which the agreement applies. |
Job Order | Job order to which the agreement applies. This level is available only when processing back pay. |
How the Agreement Hierarchy Affects Applicable Agreements
Pay and bill agreements are assigned to job orders via the Assign Pay and Assign Bill Agreement screens in Recruitment Manager. The agreements shown in these screens are filtered so that only agreements applicable to the job order are listed.
Whether an agreement is applicable to a job order is determined by:
The agreement hierarchy level that the agreement is assigned to.
The hierarchy value at that level (for example, Country = Australia, Payee = John Smith).
For example:
An agreement is assigned to the Country level with a hierarchy value of Australia.
That agreement is applicable to any job order that belongs to the country Australia.
Most specific vs least specific agreements
The list of applicable agreements is also sorted from most specific to least specific:
Agreements at lower hierarchy levels (for example, Payee) are more specific.
Agreements at higher hierarchy levels (for example, Country) are less specific.
Example:
A job order belongs to the country Australia and is filled by a payee named John Smith.
One agreement exists at the Country level for Australia.
Another agreement exists at the Payee level for John Smith.
In the Assign Pay / Assign Bill Agreement screens:
Both agreements will be listed as available.
The payee-level agreement (John Smith) appears first, because it is at the lowest level and is therefore most specific to the job order.
Only one pay agreement and one bill agreement can be assigned to a job order. The user selects the appropriate agreement from the available list as needed.
How Rules and Conditions Use the Agreement Hierarchy
Some rules or conditions within an agreement must also be assigned to a level of the agreement hierarchy and given a hierarchy value. This allows Rates and Rules to decide which rule or condition applies for a particular job order.
Example:
Pay rate rules within a pay agreement must be assigned to a hierarchy level.
The assigned level determines which pay rate rule applies, based on the categories that apply to the job order.
Where there are multiple rules defined at different levels of the hierarchy, Rates and Rules applies the lowest-level (most specific) rule that is valid.
Relationship between agreement level and rule level
When a rule or condition within an agreement must be assigned to a hierarchy level:
The rule or condition can only be assigned to a level that is lower than the level of the agreement itself.
This ensures that rules are always more specific than the agreement they belong to.
Searching for Hierarchy Values
Wherever an object (for example, an agreement or rule) can be assigned to a hierarchy level in Rates and Rules, you can search for and select the corresponding hierarchy value via a Search Hierarchy dialog box.
This allows you to:
Choose the correct hierarchy level (such as Country, Client, or Payee).
Search for and select the required hierarchy value at that level.
Ensure agreements and rules are correctly targeted to the right country, client, payee, or job order.