Work pattern
To enter a work pattern for your employee, please:
1. Go to Employee details, Employee list.
2. Select the employee and then click Work pattern.
3. Enter the work pattern and click Save.
There are two types of Work Patterns you can set up.
- A "Week by Week" work pattern where the pattern fits into a whole number of weeks, or
- A "Days on / Days off" pattern, where the pattern is repeatable, but the pattern does not fit into a week.
Each pattern type can be set up in either Hours or Days.
Set up the work pattern in Hours if:
- The hours are consistent in the repeating cycle, but not the same on each day worked.
Set up the work pattern in Days if:
- The hours are the same on each day worked (defined by standard Hours per Day as set up on the Employee Payment screen).
- The days that the employee works are consistent, but the hours worked on each of those days varies from pay to pay (i.e. employee has No Standard Hours).
Note: For employees with No Standard Hours, their work pattern can only be set up in Days.
Week by week
Choose "Week by week" if the employee's hours/days of work fit into a Monday to Sunday cycle (e.g. pattern repeats every X weeks).
Week by week pattern types must have an effective date of Monday. The system considers a week as being Monday to Sunday, so if your employee works Wednesday to Tuesday, the system considers that as spread over two weeks. You can add an additional week to the work pattern. Additional weeks can be added by using the "+" icon at the end of the row, or if too many weeks have been added, you can remove weeks by clicking the bin icon at the end of the row.
Standard weekly schedule (Hours pattern)
Example: Bob works 6 hours per day on Monday to Wednesday, and 4 hours per day on Thursday and Friday. These are his hours of work each week:
Standard fortnightly schedule (Hours pattern) - hours change per week
Example: Sally works 8 hours per day, Monday to Friday in one week, and 4 hours per day, Monday to Friday in the second week. This pattern then repeats every two weeks.
Standard fortnightly pattern (Days pattern) - same hours
Example: Alice works 6 hours per day, 5 days per week, but the days worked each week are different.
In the first week she works 6 hours per day, Monday to Friday, and in the second week she works 6 hours per day, Tuesday to Saturday. This pattern repeats every two weeks.
Standard weekly schedule (Days pattern) - variable hours
Example: Dan works 4 days per week from Tuesday to Friday, but the total hours worked each week are different.
Days on / Days off
Choose "Days on / Days off" if the employee's hours/days of work do NOT fit into a seven-day cycle (for example, a 4 day on, 4 day off work pattern).
Days on / Days off pattern types can start on any day of the week.
If setting up the work pattern in Hours, the "Day in Work Pattern" is required to determine when the cycle should be repeated.
If setting up the work pattern in Days, then simply enter the number of "Days on" and "Days off" in the repeating cycle. The Days in Work Pattern will be automatically based on the information entered.
Additional days on/days off can be added by using the "+" icon at the end of the row, or if too many rows have been added, you can remove them by clicking the bin icon at the end of the row.
Days on / Days off (Hours pattern) - variable daily hours
Charlie works a 4 day on, 4 day off repeating pattern. On his days on, he works 8 hours on the first two days, and 6 hours on the second two days. The cycle repeats every 8 days. His first day on is Thursday 30/03/2023.
To set up this work pattern, we need to enter the Effective Date, and then enter the total number of days in the repeating cycle into the "Days in work pattern" field. As the employee works 4 days on and 4 days off before it repeats, this means there is 8 days in the work pattern.
To work out what the employee's Hours Per Day and Days Per Week are:
- Enter their work pattern into a spreadsheet until the pattern repeats itself.
- Total their hours worked across the week.
- Total their days worked across the week.
- Auto-sum the hours worked across these weeks.
- Auto-sum the days worked across these weeks.
- Hours Per Day = sum of hours worked divided by sum of days worked.
- Days Per Week = sum of days worked divided by the number of weeks until the pattern repeats.
Days on / Days off (Days pattern)
Example: Hannah works a 3 day on, 3 day off, 2 day on, 2 day off repeating pattern. This cycle repeats every 10 days. On her days on, she works 9 hours per day. The first day on is a Monday.
To work out what the employee's Hours Per Day and Days Per Week are:
- Enter their work pattern into a spreadsheet until the pattern repeats itself.
- Total their hours worked across the week.
- Total their days worked across the week.
- Auto-sum the hours worked across these weeks.
- Auto-sum the days worked across these weeks.
- Hours Per Day = sum of hours worked divided by sum of days worked.
- Days Per Week = sum of days worked divided by the number of weeks until the pattern repeats.
Days on / Days off (Days pattern) - variable daily hours
Alan works a 6 day on, 3 day off repeating pattern. The pattern repeats every 9 days. While we know the days in which he works, the hours worked on each of those days are constantly changing.
