- What is Pay by Area?
- Refresher on Areas
- How to set up Pay by Area for employees
- How to remove a Pay by Area for an employee
- Step-by-step examples using Pay by Area
- Exporting Area-based pay
- FAQs
What is Pay by Area?
It’s commonplace to have employees qualified to work across different roles and responsibilities in one organization.
For example, Alyssa works in both 'Drive-Thru' and 'Delivery' and will be paid two different rates depending on which area she works.
Use Pay by Area to allow Alyssa and other team members to flexibly move between roles while ensuring they’re paid correctly for the work they’re performing in each role.
Refresher on Areas
Areas are where you roster or schedule your employees.
For example, if your business is a coffee shop, you might consider using the Areas:
- Barista
- Roaster
- Service
You can also think of areas as "jobs" or "roles" within your business such as a Barista. In this way, you might have some staff that could work across all three of these Areas in our example (Barista, Roaster, Service).
Learn more about setting up Areas in Deputy.
How to set up Pay by Area for employees
Step 1: Set up employee pay rates
To assign Pay by Area to an employee:
1. On the People tab and click on the name of the team member that you would like to apply Area-based pay rates to.
2. Click Employment on the left menu then Edit and then Pay Details tab.
Note: if your employees were previously using 'Area of Work' the difference is 'Hourly' pay rate will be pre-selected and the hourly rates will be the same.
3. Select the default pay rate your employee will be paid when they’re not working in a specific area. Select the (default) pay structure you would like to apply for the employee from the options:
- Hourly
- Hourly (40h + 1.5 x Overtime)
- Rates per day
- Fixed Rate
- Hourly (44hr + 1.5 x Overtime)
- An Australian Award from the pay rate library
- USA Federal and State Employment Terms
Make sure you have entered all the hourly and daily rates required.
Note: If you have chosen a Federal or State Labor Law pay rule from the library, you only need to enter the base rate and the multipliers will be adjusted accordingly.
Note: When a pay rate is selected, all multipliers and allowances appear on the screen which can be a long view to scroll through. Use the View all rates and allowances to see all or collapse them on screen.
Step 2: Set Up Pay By Area
1. Click Add pay by area which will open up Area Group 1.
2. Select the area the team member will work in when this different pay rate will apply.
3. Select the pay rate you want to apply to the Area group. This is the same process as setting up the default pay rate. Remember, you only need to enter the base rate and the multipliers will adjust accordingly.
4. Click 'Save Details'
If you need to add or update Pay by Area rates for multiple team members at once, see Bulk update and import of pay rates by area.
Tip: Confirm the Payroll ID and review the proper Leave Entitlements listed for the employee. Click here to learn more about Leave Management.
How to remove a Pay By Area for an employee
If you no longer want to use a Pay By Area for an employee, you can remove it.
1. Click Remove in the upper right on the Area Group.
2. Click Save.
Common Ways to Use Pay by Area
Example 1 - Pay someone for higher duties
Mario works as a senior bartender, but there are days where the bar manager, Chloe is sick or has taken time off. Mario will then need to work as a bar manager in Chloe’s absence.
The hourly rate for a bar manager is higher than a senior bartender, so Mario will need to get paid the bar manager rate whenever he is replacing Chloe.
In this case, set up an area called Bar Manager and another for Senior Bartender. Assign a default pay rate for Mario, and add a ‘Pay by Area’ for Bar Manager area with the base rate higher than his default rate. Whenever Mario works in the Bar Manager area, the higher rate will be applied.
Example 2 - Working in hazardous conditions
Bronte works for a construction company and at times she needs to work with certain equipment where it’s considered a hazardous work condition. There is a rate increase for this type of work, for example, a 20% supplement on the base rate i.e. if base is $25, Bronte will be assigned a $30 base rate whenever she works with these types of equipment.
In this case, set up an area Hazardous Work Zone or be more specific by using the equipment / tool as the area name. You’ll need to set up Pay by Area for every employee that’ll be working in this area, and specify the hazardous duty pay for each individual employee; assigning it to the area you’ve created.
Example 3 - Carrying out a different job than usual
Carissa works at a cafe as a host and waitress, but the two roles have different pay rates. This means she needs to have two rates assigned because as a waitress, her base is $22/hour and as a host it's $25/hour.
In this case, set up two separate areas, Host and Waiter, choose either the $25 or $22 as her default pay rate (the default could be the area where she mostly works in or what her contract / job offer letter states). Set up a Pay by Area for the additional area(s) she works in, these will most likely be the higher rate.
Exporting Area Based Pay
You can currently export area-based pay to Gusto, ADP and Xero.
FAQ
If my employees were using “Area of Work” will anything change with their timesheets or pay?
No, the difference is that 'Hourly' pay rate will be pre-selected as the default but the hourly rates will be the same.
For example, if the default hourly rate is $20 and the hourly rate for Area Group 1 (i.e. ‘Barista’ and ‘Management’) is $30. In the new version, the default weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rate will be $20 and the weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates for Area Group 1 will be $30.
See the previous version of Pay by Area, known as Areas of Work.
Can I use Pay by Area if I am using Xero for payroll?
Yes, read Using Pay by area in Xero (AU)
Can I update Pay by Area for multiple team members at once?
Yes. If you need to add or update Pay by Area rates for multiple team members, you can import the changes in bulk instead of updating each team member individually.
You can learn about how in Bulk update and import of pay rates by area: