Description
A new field labelled Rate Description has been added to the agreement and standard rates matrix that is available on a job order and job templates in the 11.37 release. The field displays and allows editing of a description of the pay rate, which can then be printed payees' payslips.
For agreement rates job orders, the Rate Description field displays a description of the pay rate of a pay item, if defined against the corresponding pay rate rule on the pay agreement (for more information, see Pay Rate Description on Pay Rate Rules). An example of how this displays in a Job Order's rates is highlighted below.
If the rate description of a pay item is added or edited in the agreement rates matrix on a job order or job template, a rate change event is captured in the Rate History screen. This is displayed by clicking on the Pay Code item on the Recruitment Manager > Job Order > Pay/Bill> Agreements > Agreement Rates screen. An example of this is shown below.
Recruitment Manager users who have security permissions to allow editing of rates on a job order or job template can add or edit the rate description for a pay item directly within the agreement or standard rates matrix on a job order or job template respectively. That is, if a user can edit a rate on a job order, that user can also add or edit the rate description in the rates matrix.
If rates are edited at the job template or job order level, the link to the rate set on the agreement or job template is broken. That is, from that point onward any changes to the agreement or the rate set on the job template will not flow down to the job template or job order. Therefore, it is important to note that any changes made to the rate description will also not flow down from the original source of the rates once the link to the original source of the rates is broken.
For agreement rates, the Rate Description field is blank and cannot be edited regardless of user permissions for any pay item in the agreement rates matrix that is linked to a pay rate rule that is flagged as Calculation Only. This is because no actual payment is made against such items.
Benefits
This enhancement facilitates compliance with FairWork Australia requirements whereby, if a payee is paid a loaded rate that combines a base rate of pay and additional loadings or penalty rates on top of the base rate, the payee's payslip must allow the payee to identify what the base pay rate was.
Configuration
To configure a Rate Description in an Agreement Rate Rule, see Pay Rate Description on Pay Rate Rules.
The rate description that is keyed against a pay item will only be printed on a payslip if the corresponding payslip format is configured to display a pay rate description within the payslip items component of the payslip. For more information, see Pay Rate Description Field for Payslips.