Top-up Rates

Once timesheets are processed against a pay agreement, it is not possible to modify the rate defined by any existing pay rate rules belonging to that agreement. If, however, the applicable rate of a pay code needs to be adjusted, a new pay rate rule can be defined to specify a top-up rate for the original rate, as specified by the existing rate rule.

Unlike other rate rules, rate rules that apply a top-up operation can be created at the same agreement hierarchy level and value as an existing rate rule with the same pay code, and can have a validity period that overlaps that of the existing rate rule. Once a pay code has a top-up rate applied, the original rate for the pay code becomes the base rate.

When a rate rule is flagged as representing a top-up rate, the rate value specified by the rate rule is not the actual rate that is applied. Instead, a top-up operation uses that value to, depending on the option selected within the rate rule, do one of the following:

• add the value to the base rate

• subtract the value from the base rate

• multiplying the base rate by the value

• divide the base rate by the value

• apply the value as a percentage of the base rate.

Therefore, Rates and Rules applies the value to the base rate in order to calculate the new rate. The table below shows an example of this.

If the base rate for pay code X is $20.00, the new rate after applying the top-up would be $22.50.

A top-up rate is applied to the base rate before the base rate is used in any calculations. For example, consider the table below.

In this example, the rate of pay for each hour of overtime worked would be calculated as (20.00 + 2.50) x1.5 = $33.75.