Set your pay rules
Split each person's hours into ordinary time, overtime tiers, weekend and public holiday time before they go to payroll.
Pay rules decide which pay code each hour goes to: ordinary time, overtime at 1.5x or 2x, Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday. Payroll then pays each code at its own rate. We never work out what anything is worth.
Pay rules are off until you save them. Until then, hours go to payroll as they were entered.
Only the owner can see and change pay rules.
Start from a starting point
- Go to Settings, Payroll, then Pay rules.
- Pick a starting point and press Start from this: - Building, electrical and plumbing shape: 8 ordinary hours a day inside a day span, overtime after that, Saturday and Sunday as overtime, and a rest after overtime. - General: over 7.6 a day or 38 a week: overtime after whichever comes first. - Simple: over 38 a week: everything is ordinary time until 38 hours in the week.
- Check every number against your award or agreement, and change what is different.
- Press Save.
What you can set
- Ordinary hours a day and a week. The defaults are 7.6 and 38.
- Overtime is counted daily, weekly, or both (whichever comes first).
- A span of ordinary hours, Monday to Friday, such as 6:00 to 18:00. Time outside it is overtime.
- Weekday overtime tiers, such as the first 2 hours at 1.5x, then 2x. Tiers count from the first minute of overtime each day.
- Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: paid like a weekday, or at their own rates from the first minute.
- A rest after overtime: if someone finishes a day with overtime and starts again with less rest than this, that whole day is paid at the top weekday rate.
- A meal break expected after so many hours. A longer shift with no break shows as a check before payday.
The page lists the pay codes your rules make, such as ORD, OT15, SAT20 and PH25. Match each one to a pay item on Pay items.
How hours are split
- A shift belongs to the day it starts. A Sunday night shift that runs past midnight is still Sunday's shift, and it is never split across two pay periods.
- Sunday rates stop at midnight. The hours after midnight are Monday's time, counted on the Sunday shift.
- Two jobs on the same day count together toward the daily hours.
- A shift with a Pay code set by hand keeps that code. Its hours still count toward the daily and weekly hours.
- A break is not worked time and counts toward nothing.
- Hours are counted as actually worked across a daylight saving change.
Public holidays
Choose your state or territory at the bottom of the page. With none chosen, it is read from your business address. Public holidays for 2026 to 2028 come from each state and territory government's published list.
Days that apply to only part of a state, such as a show day, are not included. Add your own under Add a day of your own.
Turn pay rules off
Press Turn off. Hours go to payroll as they were entered again. Anything already sent changes only when you send it again.