Pay rate rules control the rate a payee is paid for a specific job role once the system has allocated time or units to pay codes. This article explains how pay rate rules fit into a pay agreement, how hierarchy and validity determine which rule applies, and how options such as rounding, rate type, and rate descriptions affect the final pay result.
Configure Pay Rate Rules
What Pay Rate Rules Do
Pay rate rules are part of a pay agreement and define the rate of pay a payee receives for performing a specific job role.
During interpretation, the system applies all applicable pay code rules to determine the relevant pay codes and allocate time or units to each pay code.
Once the applicable pay codes are known, the system applies the pay rate rules linked to those pay codes to determine the monetary pay rate for each pay item.
After the secondary interpretation process has applied all applicable pay rate rules, the results are passed to the Pay module so the payee’s earnings can be calculated.
Pay Rate Rule Components
In Rates and Rules, each pay rate rule within an agreement is configured by defining:
The pay code to which the rule applies.
The agreement hierarchy level and hierarchy value to which the rule belongs.
The validity period (start and end dates) of the rule.
The type of rounding to apply to the pay result.
The pay rate type(s) that determine how the rate is calculated.
Calculation Only pay rate rules
You can mark a pay rate rule as Calculation Only if the rate from that rule is only used as a base rate in other calculations:
When Calculation Only is enabled, the system does not pay against the pay code referenced by that rule.
Instead, the rate from the Calculation Only rule is used in the calculation of the pay rate for other pay rate rules.
This allows you to build a pay rate from a combination of pay rates for different pay codes without showing separate pay items for the base rate on the payslip.
Using Calculation Only rules helps reduce the number of pay items on payslips and makes them easier for payees to understand.
Calculation rate type
A pay rate rule can base its pay rate on a calculation applied to the rate of another pay code:
Set the pay rate type of the rule to Calculation.
Select the pay code that provides the base rate used in the calculation.
This allows you to derive rates (for example, loaded or adjusted rates) from existing base rates defined against other pay codes.
Eligibility for pay rate rules
You can create pay rate rules only for pay codes that already have pay code rules within the same pay agreement.
The exception is pay rate rules used only to calculate a base rate (Calculation Only), which can be created for any pay code.
You can configure multiple pay rate rules within a single pay agreement.
Hierarchy Level and Hierarchy Value
Each pay rate rule belongs to a specific position in the agreement hierarchy.
The hierarchy level is the level in the agreement hierarchy (for example, Brand or Client) that the rule belongs to.
The hierarchy value is the actual object at that level (for example, the name of the agency brand or a specific client).
How the system chooses the applicable pay rate rule
The Rate Determinator Type field on the agreement header controls which pay rate rule is applied when more than one rule could apply:
Lowest Hierarchy Level: The system applies the valid pay rate rule at the lowest (most specific) hierarchy level.
Highest Rate Value: The system applies a valid pay rate rule that defines the highest monetary rate, regardless of hierarchy level.
Lowest Rate Value: The system applies a valid pay rate rule that defines the lowest monetary rate, regardless of hierarchy level.
Relationship to the agreement header
The pay agreement header is also assigned a hierarchy level and hierarchy value:
A pay rate rule cannot be assigned to a hierarchy level that is higher than the agreement header’s hierarchy level.
If a pay rate rule uses the same hierarchy level as the agreement header, the hierarchy value must also match the agreement header’s hierarchy value.
Example
The agreement header is assigned to the Brand hierarchy level with a hierarchy value of FastTrack Recruitment Global.
A pay rate rule cannot be assigned to the Country hierarchy level, because that is higher than Brand.
A pay rate rule can be assigned to the Brand level, but the hierarchy value must be FastTrack Recruitment Global to match the agreement header.
A pay rate rule can also be assigned to any hierarchy level below Brand (for example, Client), in which case you can set the hierarchy value to any appropriate client.
📌 Note: Whether a pay or bill rate rule is valid at a given time also depends on its validity period, described in the Validity Period section below.
Hierarchy Group
A pay rate rule can also be assigned to a hierarchy group, which is an additional, customisable category used together with hierarchy levels and values to determine whether a rule is applicable.
How hierarchy groups are used
When a pay item is processed during pay interpretation:
The system searches the agreement hierarchy using a combination of hierarchy level, hierarchy value, and hierarchy group to find a matching pay rate rule.
If no match is found using all three, the system performs a second search using only hierarchy level and hierarchy value.
Key points:
Assigning a hierarchy group to a pay rate rule is optional.
You can assign a pay rate rule to a hierarchy group only if hierarchy group functionality is enabled.
Enabling and labelling hierarchy groups
Hierarchy group functionality is enabled in Maintenance, then Hierarchy, then Country Settings, then Hierarchy Group.
Labels for hierarchy groups can be customised to suit your business terminology and the country to which they apply. This is configured in the same Hierarchy Group settings area.
If any pay rate rule is assigned to a hierarchy group, the Hierarchy Groups Assigned to Rates field is ticked on the agreement header to indicate that one or more rules use hierarchy groups.
Validity Period
Each pay rate rule has a validity period, which defines:
The date the pay rate becomes valid.
The date the rule expires.
The validity period is critical when multiple rate rules exist at different levels of the agreement hierarchy.
Example
Timesheet period: 26/10/2009 – 01/11/2009 (Mon–Sun)
Client rate validity: 01/01/2009 – 31/12/2009
Job order rate validity: 28/10/2009 – 10/11/2009
If the Rate Determinator Type is set to Lowest Hierarchy Level:
For 26/10/2009 and 27/10/2009 (Monday and Tuesday), only the Client rate is valid, so the client rate applies.
For 28/10/2009 – 01/11/2009 (Wednesday to Sunday), both rates are valid, and the Job Order rate at the lower (more specific) hierarchy level applies.
Constraints
You can only create one pay or bill rate rule with the same pay or bill code at the same agreement hierarchy level and hierarchy value within a given validity period.
The exception is pay rate rules that apply top-up rates, which can coexist with base rate rules for the same pay code and period.
Rounding
Each pay rate rule defines how the pay result of that rule is rounded:
The system can round the pay result up, down, or truncate it to a specific number of decimal places.
The rounding setting applies to the result of the pay rate calculation, not to the underlying pay rate itself.
This ensures that calculated amounts are presented consistently according to your rounding requirements.
Rate Type
The pay rate type defines how the system determines the pay rate for a rule. For example:
A flat rate that always uses a fixed value.
A calculation-based rate that derives from another pay code’s rate.
A payee-specific rate that uses the payee’s own defined rate.
A single pay rate rule can define different rate types depending on specific conditions that apply (for example, different times of day or different units).
Rate Description
You can add a rate description to individual sub-rules within a pay rate rule:
When a payment is made because a specific sub-rule applies, the rate description can be printed on the payee’s payslip.
This is particularly useful when a rate is a loaded rate that includes a base rate plus additional loadings.
In that case, the rate description can explain the base rate and any additional loadings paid to the payee.
The rate description that applies to a pay item is visible and, subject to security permissions, editable in the rates matrix on a job order in Recruitment Manager.
Rules for rate descriptions
Rate descriptions:
Are optional.
Can be up to 60 alphanumeric characters in length.
Cannot be defined if the pay rate rule is flagged as Calculation Only.
Become locked (uneditable) once any transactions exist that are linked to the pay rate rule.
Are taken from the top-up rate rule when a pay item is paid against a pay code that uses both a base rate pay rate rule and a top-up pay rate rule, because the top-up rule determines the final loaded rate.
Are copied to the new pay rate rule when the Back Pay process in the Rates and Rules module creates a new rule for a retrospective rate change, provided a rate description exists on the original pay item.
Cannot be defined for non-timesheet based pay items, including:
Manual pay items added in a pay batch.
Manual pay items added in the Interpreter Results, then Interpreter Review module.
Leave payment items.
Termination payment items.
Printing rate descriptions on payslips
To print rate descriptions on payslips:
Make sure the Rate Description field is added to the Payslip Items/Allowances table in the payslip format used to generate payslips.
Review your existing Document Formats configuration for how payslip layouts are defined and updated.
Pay super when earnings are below the threshold
In FastTrack360, super eligibility is controlled by Eligibility Rules (not pay oncosts). If an employee is stopping super because of a quarterly (or other) earnings threshold, update the relevant rule so the employee remains eligible.
Update the super eligibility rule
Go to Payroll, then click on Maintenance.
Open Superannuation, then it can be managed in the Eligibility Rules.