Controls

Use this tab to set up the following parameters.

Statutory

Update Pay

Select this check box to add the value of any transactions for the selected payroll code to the gross pay accumulators.

It is important that you set this check box correctly when you want to accommodate expense payments, which are paid back to employees using the payroll process because it is the most efficient way to reimburse them.

For example, if an employee is paid £1000.00 salary in a period and also being reimbursed £150.00 for travel and accommodation, the employee’s pay for the year should only reflect an additional £1000.00. This reserves the transaction value of the expenses payment to be added to the final, net pay value for the employee after the rest of the calculation process has been completed. For expense payments, you should not select the Update Pay, TAX, NI and Pension check boxes.

TAX

Select this check box to indicate the element is taxable when a transaction for it is encountered by the payroll calculation. This feature is not available when a payroll Interface is implemented, because in this case the calculation process is not used. When you select this check box, the value of the transaction is accumulated to the taxable gross value for each employee before the calculation is performed.

NI

Select this check box to indicate this element attracts national insurance deductions when a transaction for it is encountered by the payroll calculation. This feature is not available when a payroll interface is implemented, because the calculation process is not used. When you select this check box, the value of the transaction is accumulated to the NI-able gross value for each employee before the calculation is performed.

Pension

Select this check box to indicate the element is pensionable when a transaction for it is encountered by the payroll calculation. When you select this check box, the value of the transaction is accumulated to the pensionable gross value for each employee before the calculation is performed.

More localized equivalents of this parameter are available against either the payroll category or, more typically, the employee, so that this value may be amended for specific groups or individual employees. This avoids having to create a duplicate code for the same issue to satisfy a mix of pensionable and non-pensionable status for the same activity. This feature is not available when a payroll interface is implemented, because the calculation process is not used.

Other

Absence

This identifier is reserved for a forthcoming release of Occupational Absence controls and identifies a payroll code for potential use in the employee profile of Occupational qualifications.

Sessional Contracts

This control identifies a payroll code for potential use in the Session Contracts module.

Typically, the Contract Entry module will only select RATE type codes that have this parameter set ON and also an optional definition procedure which allows you to associate a payroll code with an element of the contract system, such as the “Area Of Study” and “Session” details, only provides access to this type of payroll code.

Primarily the payroll code will then be in a position to provide further details to the contracts process such as the rate of pay and/or the General Ledger coding. Ultimately, the other controls described above will also be used when the contracts are claimed and subsequently paid through the payroll module.

General Ledger

Select this check box to indicate the general ledger should be updated with entries for the selected payroll code.

Select this check box when you require further controls and information to complete the function of performing updates to a recipient general ledger. Further facilities, such as the subsequent provision of further general ledger integration rules against the selected payroll code, are allowed or disallowed based upon this setting. The GEN tab is available only when you select this check box.

Portal

Select this check box to make the selected payroll code available to HR Portal.

Personal Data Keeper

Holiday Pay

Holiday Pay

Select this check box to indicate the element should be considered as eligible for holiday payments. By default, this check box is clear, which indicates the element is not eligible.

Rate

Optional. Select, from the drop-down list, the payroll code the system uses to make holiday payments. When a payroll code is not specified in this field, you must specify a payroll code when you run the Holiday Payments wizard.

Occupational Sick

Select one of the following:

  • Leave,to continue paying the item whether or not occupational sickness is paid.
  • Suspend, to stop the payment when occupational sickness is paid.
  • Replace, to replace the item with the occupational sickness payment. For example, in the case of the basic pay or salary payroll code, you set this field to Replace. When you select Replace, you must ensure you specify the occupational sick payroll code and associated duration on the occupational sick scheme definition’s Progression tab, which tells the system what occupational sickness payment replaces the item and for how long.

When you select Replace, you must also select a setting in React to Critical Dates to enable the system to prorate the value of the payment by using any sickness absence dates found in an employee’s absence records.

React To Critical Dates

There are a number of circumstances when it is necessary to prorate the value of a payment, so it is a fraction of an original value — to reflect the correct proportion of the period worked. A value can be prorated by the system when:

  • an employee starts or leaves in the middle of a pay period
  • you use the Occupational Sick module to adjust employees’ pay in the current pay period by using the system’s sickness absence records.

The purpose of this field is to control whether and how a payment is prorated.

To ensure that an employee’s salary is prorated when they start or leave during the pay period, you must set React to Critical Dates for the salary payroll code.

If you use Occupational Sick, you must set React to Critical Dates for each payroll code that represents a payment affected by occupational sick payments. For example, if qualifying employees’ salary is replaced by occupational sick pay when they are off sick, you set React to Critical Dates for the salary payroll code. Similarly, If your occupational sickness schemes have allowances for full pay and half pay, you set React to Critical Dates for the payroll codes for occupational sick full and half pay, so that occupational sickness payments are prorated based on the sickness absence dates.

NO

Select this setting when you do not want to prorate the transaction represented by the selected payroll code.

When you select any other setting, the system attempts to prorate the payment or deduction value based on that setting. For starters and leavers, prorating is done only when the system finds a starting or leaving date on an employee’s HR record that falls between the start and end date of the current pay period. When you use Occupational Sick to make occupational sickness payments and prorate employees’ salaries based on the sickness absence records, prorating is done only when sickness absence dates are found on employees’ HR records.

For each of these settings, start and end dates are compared by the system to establish the correct fraction.

Start Date

The days between and including the start and end date of the pay period are compared to the start date of employment or sickness absence and the end date of the pay period.

End Date

The days between and including the start and end date of the pay period are compared to the start date of the pay period and the leaving date or end date of sickness absence of the employee.

To prorate a payment, select one of the following settings:

  • Calendar Days. All dates within the ranges are accumulated to each count of valid days. For an employee who starts or leaves in a pay period, the system calculates the number of days the employee worked and compares this to the total number of calendar days in the pay period. For example, someone on a monthly template, who left on the 20 March 2011, would be paid a pro rata amount — 20/31 of their basic pay.
  • Working Days Standard Only days acknowledged as official working days, as defined by the system calendar, are accumulated to each count of valid days. The system uses all Mondays – Fridays in the year, minus the number of non-working days defined by the system, or it will use a default working pattern for all employees if one is defined. For an employee who starts or leaves in a pay period, the system calculates the number of days the employee worked and compares this to the total number of working days in the pay period. For example, someone on a monthly template, who left on the 20 March 2011, would be paid a pro rata amount — 14/23 of their basic pay.
  • Fixed Days For starters and leavers, the number of calendar days in the worked period, either from the start of employment to the end date for the pay period or from the start of the pay period to the leaving date, is calculated as a percentage of a fixed value of 260 days. In this instance, this fraction is applied against the proposed annual value rather than the value for the pay period. You can change the system’s default of 260 days in Fixed Date Effective Days on the References tab in Payroll > Module Definitions.
  • Working Days Specific Only days acknowledged as official working days, as defined by the working patterns for employees, are accumulated to each count of valid days. You can specify a working pattern for an employee on the Terms tab in HR Record > Employment > Employment History. If employees do not have any working patterns specified for them, the system uses all Mondays – Fridays in the year, minus the number of non-working days defined by the system, or it uses a default working pattern for all employees if one is defined. You can define the non-working days and the default working pattern on the Controls tab in System Setup > Housekeeping >System Definitions. You can define working patterns for employees by clicking Payroll > Terms and Conditions > Working Pattern.

For information about the details you enter on the Defaults tab, click here.