Overtime Rules (Payroll)

Owned by akapteyn (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 15, 2017 by Marina Rowe
6 min read

When HomeTrak Companion is calculating payroll, it automatically calculates the overtime hours and rates on schedules for caregivers that exceed the Maximum Hours thresholds for overtime in a given period. Overtime may be calculated on a Daily basis or Weekly basis, or both. 

To pay overtime, the caregiver must have the Pay Overtime option selected in their Payroll Options.

Weekly Overtime

Overtime is calculated based on a full 7-day week, beginning on the day selected in the Start of Week field. (The Start of the Week is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Schedule Settings.)

Overtime is calculated only for Hourly and Live-In schedules. Flat-rate schedules such as Per Visit or Monthly are not included in overtime calculations (flat-rate schedules do not receive overtime and their hours do not contribute to the total hours for calculating overtime for other schedules).

Overtime is paid if the same caregiver exceeds the overtime hours limit in a given 7-day payroll week. The overtime hours limit is the threshold for overtime. You will set this threshold in the Hours Before Overtime setting for Weekly overtime. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings. If this threshold value is set to 0, Weekly overtime is disabled.

If the checkbox Include Travel Hours in Overtime is selected, Travel Time is also included in the calculation of overtime hours, if the caregiver is paid for travel time.

How Overtime Rates are Calculated

The following Agency Office Payroll options affect how overtime rates are calculated from the regular payroll rates:

Overtime Rate Factor: The factor by which overtime payroll rates will be calculated. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings. 

Overtime Average: Choose the method by which overtime will be calculated. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings.
      Weighted Average of the Week: Overtime rates for schedules are calculated based on the weighted average of all Hourly work for the payroll period (week) for the specific caregiver.  Holiday adjustments applied to schedules do not affect the weighted average. Only schedules with rate types that are eligible for overtime (i.e. Hourly and Live-In) may be considered in the weighted average. Flat-rate (i.e. Per Visit, Monthly, etc.) schedules do not influence the weighted average. To determine the overtime rate for the schedule, the calculated weighted average is multiplied by the overtime rate factor.
      Weighted Average of the Day: As above, but a weighted average of all records for a specific caregiver for the same calendar day.
      Overtime Rate Factor Only: Overtime rates for schedules are calculated based on the unadjusted payroll rate for the schedule multiplied by the overtime rate factor.

Rate Blending: Choose the method by which the weighted average for overtime rates is calculated for caregivers working different types of schedules (Hourly and Live-In) in a given payroll period.
      Blend All Rates: Average of all eligible rates (both Hourly and Live-In). Live-In rates will be calculated as an equivalent Hourly rate based on the credited payroll hours and the Live-In amount for the purposes of averaging with the Hourly schedules. The final overtime rate for the Live-In schedule is then converted back to a Live-In rate based on the hours to credit for a Live-In rate type.
      Blend with same Rate Type: Only use a weighted average of other schedules with the same rate type when determining the weighted average rate. 

Excluding Specific Call Types from Overtime

Individual Call Types may be marked to be excluded from overtime calculations in the Agency Office list of Call Types. A call type that is marked to be excluded from overtime will not calculate overtime, nor will its hours count toward the overtime totals when calculating overtime on other schedules within the same period.

Daily Overtime

Daily overtime is calculated on a similar basis to Weekly overtime, but on the basis of a 24-hour calendar day rather than a full week.

Overtime is paid if the same caregiver exceeds the overtime hours limit in a given calendar day. The overtime hours limit is the threshold for overtime. You will set this threshold in the Hours Before Overtime setting for Daily overtime. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings. If this threshold value is set to 0, Daily overtime is disabled.

Daily overtime rates are averaged and calculated using the same rules as for Weekly overtime rates.

Preventing Daily OT Hours from Contributing to the Weekly Total

The standard Weekly overtime calculations in HomeTrak Companion are based on exceeding a threshold number of hours per week. By default, all Hourly and Live-In hours are counted toward this total. (Per Visits and other flat-rate schedules are never counted toward overtime hours.) If Daily overtime is enabled, some of those hours may already have overtime rates applied, effectively increasing the caregiver's overtime hours and decreasing their total regular hours. In many cases, you may not want those hours that already have Daily overtime applied to be counted toward the total hours for determining Weekly overtime. HomeTrak Companion has options to calculate either of these scenarios:
      Include Daily overtime hours in Weekly total: All hours worked, both regular and those that already have Daily overtime applied, will count toward the Weekly total for determining Weekly overtime hours.
      Exclude Daily overtime hours in Weekly total: Only regular hours will count toward the Weekly total. Hours that already have Daily overtime applied will not count toward the Weekly total for determining Weekly overtime hours.

This option is set at the Rate Type level. The master list of Rate Types is in the User Defined Information Module, With Support's Advice tab. To prevent hours that already have Daily overtime rates applied from being counted toward the Weekly overtime threshold, edit the Rate Type and check the box "Exclude Daily overtime from contributing to Weekly total". (NOTE: By default, this option defaults to exclude daily overtime hours from contributing to the weekly total.)

We recommend that you make sure that all of your rate types are configured with matching settings.

Separate Thresholds for Overtime in Facilities

Some jurisdictions are required to calculate overtime pay for caregivers differently if the caregiver works in a facility rather than in-home or privately. If a caregiver works in a facility, overtime is paid after fewer hours worked, compared to in-home or privately. Companion has the ability to specify different hour thresholds for "standard" and "facility" overtime.

Facility overtime is paid if an eligible caregiver exceeds the overtime hours limit for a facility in a given 7-day payroll week. Companion offers several options for determining which caregivers are eligible for calculating overtime using the facility threshold. Caregivers may get facility overtime if:

  • they have any hours in a facility that week, or
  • if their facility hours exceed a set percentage of their total hours, or 
  • if their facility hours alone are over the facility overtime threshold.

Caregivers who do not qualify for having overtime hours calculated based on the facility threshold will have their hours calculated based on the standard overtime threshold values.

The Weekly overtime hours limit for facilities is the threshold for overtime set in the Hours Before Overtime for Facility setting for Weekly overtime. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings. If this threshold value is set to 0, Weekly facility overtime is disabled.

Specifying a Location as a Facility

Whether a given schedule should apply to facility overtime is determined by the location of the schedule, which is chosen from the client's address(es). To indicate that an address is a facility, edit the client's profile or secondary address and specify a Structure type that represents a facility. A Structure represents a facility if it has a check in the box "Is Facility" on the definition of the structure. The master lists of Structures is in the User Defined Information Module under the Location drop-down menu.

Facility and Daily Overtime

Facility overtime may also be applied to Daily overtime calculations, using the same rules as detailed above, but for a 24-hour calendar day. The Daily overtime hours limit for facilities is the threshold for overtime.  The threshold is set in the Hours Before Overtime for Facility setting for Daily overtime. This setting is in the Agency Office Module, With Support's Advice tab, under the Settings tool in Payroll Settings. If this threshold value is set to 0, Daily facility overtime is disabled.

Excluding Specific Services From Overtime

It is possible to exclude certain Services (Call Types) from factoring in to Overtime. Any schedules for excluded Services will not have overtime calculated, nor will their hours contribute towards calculating overtime on other schedules.

To exclude a service from Overtime, edit the Service (Call Type) in the Services list in the Scheduling tab of the Agency Office Module. Under the "Exclude From" heading at top right, check the boxes to exclude from Weekly and Daily Overtime.