Configure Pay Group Payroll Properties

After you create new pay groups or if you need to convert existing ones, you can configure pay group properties that Dayforce Payroll uses. These configurations define, among other things, a pay group's commit-by and impound-by dates, and how Dayforce treats bank holidays regarding pay dates.

Important: Several fields in the Payroll Properties tab in Pay Setup > Pay Group are restricted. Access to these fields is limited to users who have a Service User role, usually Dayforce support and services personnel.

Payroll properties are configured in the Payroll Properties tab of Pay Setup > Pay Group.

To configure a pay group's payroll properties:

1. Go to Pay Setup > Pay Group, select a pay group, and click the Payroll Properties tab.
2. In the Net Pay Setup section, select one of the following options in the Pay Date Type drop-down list to define how Dayforce determines pay dates:
   • Pay By Day Of Week: Select this option to configure the pay group to always have pay dates on the same day of the week. Then, select the actual day of the week in the Pay Date Day of Week drop-down list.
   • Pay By Fixed Day: Select this option to configure the pay group to always have pay dates on the same numerical date each month. This option is only available for pay groups with Monthly or Semi-Monthly selected in the Frequency drop-down list. Next, select the numerical date in the Fixed Pay Day 1 drop-down list and, if the pay group has a semi-monthly frequency, select the second pay date in the Fixed Pay Day 2 drop-down list.
   • Note: The application shows either the Pay Date Offset (Week) field or the Pay Date Offset (Month) field depending on the selection in the Pay Date Type drop-down list.
3. Enter the pay group's pay dates, relative to the end date of their pay periods, by providing an offset in either the Pay Date Offset (Week) field or the Pay Date Offset (Month) field:
   • If Pay By Day Of Week is selected, define the number of weeks a pay date falls, either before or after the pay period's effective end date, using the up and down arrows in the Pay Day Offset (Week) field.
     Specifying a value of 0 in the field creates pay dates during the week immediately after the pay period's end date. Specifying a positive number creates pay dates after this week, by the number specified. Specifying a negative number creates a pay date before this week.
     For example, with the offset set to -1, Dayforce creates pay dates during the same weeks that the pay group's pay periods end. However, with 1 specified, it creates pay dates after the week following the pay group pay periods' end.
   • If a pay group's pay periods start on Sundays, then for the week of June 10, 2012 to June 16, 2012, an offset of 0 and a Pay By Day Of Week selection of Monday, Dayforce creates a pay date on the Monday during the week immediately following, which is Monday, June 18. With an offset of 2, it creates the pay date on the next Monday, or the 25th.
   • If Pay By Fixed Day is selected (only available for pay groups with monthly or semi-monthly pay periods), define in what month the pay date occurs.
   • Specifying a value of 0 in this field creates pay dates during the same month as the pay period. Specifying a positive number creates pay dates after this month, by the number specified. Specifying a negative number creates pay dates before this week.
   • Note: This functionality differs from the weekly offset, where zero (0) creates pay dates during the next week. For monthly, zero (0) is the current month and other values are offset from the current month.
4. In the Adjust Type for Holiday drop-down list, select one of the following options to define how Dayforce adjusts pay dates that would otherwise occur on bank holidays:
   • Date Before: If a pay date falls on a bank holiday, Dayforce instead creates the pay date on the date before. If that date falls on a weekend, the pay date moves to the Friday before that weekend.
   • Date After: If a pay date falls on a bank holiday, Dayforce creates the pay date on the date after. If that date falls on a weekend, the pay date moves to the Monday after that weekend.
   • No Offset: (US only) When selected, Dayforce does not adjust pay dates that fall on holidays. Although funds will not move on pay dates that fall on bank holidays, the pay date itself isn’t adjusted.
   • Note: Dayforce only adjusts pay dates for bank holidays. That is, holidays that are configured with the Is Bank Holiday checkbox selected in Pay Setup > Pay Holidays or the system-default bank holidays that come with Dayforce and which are shown Pay Setup > Pay Holidays.
5. In the Commit By Offset field, enter the number of days before the impound date that Dayforce creates commit-by dates. This date is when payroll administrators have reviewed and completed payroll by completing any quick entries or adjustments.
6. In the Commit By Time field, specify the time to commit payroll on the commit by date. You can either enter the time or use the arrows to adjust the time.
7. In the Impound By Offset field (Australia and New Zealand only), make sure that the value entered equals to that entered in Pay Date Offset (Week) for Australia and New Zealand pay groups. This step is important for having the necessary flexibility to create off-cycle pay runs for immediate payments. For pay groups of other countries, enter the number of days before a pay date that Dayforce, Inc. impounds the payroll funds. Usually one day defines the impound dates in the contract between Dayforce, Inc. and the employer.
8. In the Data Gate Offset from Commit Date (hours) field, enter the number of hours before a commit date that Dayforce closing the data gate. Closing the data gate prevents workflows (for example, a change to an employee’s primary address) from being processed for a period of time.
9. In the Data Gate Duration from Offset (hours) field, enter the number of hours the data gate should be closed. For example, if the data gate closes eight (8) hours before the commit time, and should remain closed eight (8) hours after the commit time, enter a value of 16.
10. Select the Enable Commit From Payroll checkbox to configure Dayforce to pay employees in the pay group through Dayforce payroll. Payroll administrators lock and review pay runs for the pay group’s employees, saving quick entries when needed and committing pay when it's finalized.
    Clear the checkbox and the pay group is considered 'WFM only' and its employees aren’t paid through Dayforce Payroll. Instead, their gross pay needs to be approved and transmitted through the Pay Admin Checklist and exported using the Pay Export interface.
    Users with access can still load pay periods for the pay group through Payroll but it is read-only data and the Commit button isn’t enabled.
11. Note: The Enable Commit From Payroll checkbox is only shown in instances of Dayforce with the Payroll feature functionality. It isn’t shown when Dayforce is operating in WFM-only mode.
11. (Optional) In the Payroll Commit Start Date field, enter the date when the pay group's employees starts being paid through Dayforce Payroll. This date defines when the pay group transitions to using Dayforce Payroll. Pay periods that start on or after this date can be committed through Payroll and can't be exported through the existing Payroll Export interface, used by WFM to export pay data to a payroll provider. Pay periods that start before the Payroll Commit Start Date can't be committed; pay data for these pay periods must be exported using the Payroll Export.
12. Select what holiday group to assign to the pay group in the Holiday Group drop-down list. This determines which bank holidays apply and impacts the pay group's pay dates.
13. Select the Include GL Accrual checkbox to configure the application to calculate and export accruals or estimated expenses to the general ledger for the pay group. See Configure GL Accruals.
    This functionality is only used if Dayforce is configured to export payroll data to a general ledger.
14. (Service User Role only) Select the Disable Multi Jurisdiction Taxation checkbox to disable multiple jurisdiction taxation for a US pay group. When multiple jurisdiction taxation is disabled for a pay group, only employees belonging to that pay group are taxed, based on the address of their primary work assignment.
15. When you disable multi jurisdiction taxation, the application shows the Respect Fixed Employee Level MultiJ checkbox, which is selected by default, so that payroll administrators can override multi jurisdiction taxation settings at the employee level. Clear the checkbox to ignore employee-level settings, such as the Multi Jurisdiction Allocation % and Telecommuter % fields in the Work > Work Assignments screen in People.
15. Select the Suppress Tax Locator Messages If No Taxes Located checkbox to prevent Dayforce from showing the tax locator message when zero new taxes are added after changing an employee address.
16. (Optional) Enter the payroll cut over date.
17. Select the Do No Disburse or Print to Back Office checkbox to save payroll data for information purposes only. If selected, Dayforce doesn't send any wage or tax data for back office processing.
18. If the year-to-date (YTD) amounts for the pay group were loaded into one pay period, enter the number of pay periods that the loaded YTD amounts represent in the Number of Loaded Periods field. This value is used with the CPP/QPP Discrepancy Report to determine the number of pay periods YTD.
19. In the Printed Statement Localization Policy drop-down list, select one of the following options:
    • Select Print based on Employee culture to print employee earning statements in the employee's preferred language.
    • Select Print based on Client Default culture to override the employee's preferred language and print statements in the customer's default culture.
20. (Service User Role only) Select the Pay through Primary Legal Entity Only checkbox to configure Dayforce to pay and tax employees through only their primary legal entity. This option can be used to prevent Dayforce from paying and taxing employees under a second legal entity. For example, for incidental or temporary work under the second legal entity and generating a second, separate W2 form.
    Example: An employee works in the Bayview location in New York for the entire year, except for two shifts in the Burden location in New Jersey, filling in on an emergency basis for another manager. Because the employee’s company operates under multiple legal entities, the two shifts in the Burden location were worked in another legal entity from the employee’s primary one. As a result, Dayforce pays the employee under two different legal entities, generates two W2 forms (one for the work paid under each legal entity) and taxes the employee for both New York and New Jersey state taxes.
    With the Pay through Primary Legal Entity Only checkbox selected, the employee is only paid and taxed under their primary legal entity.
    When the employee is paid under their primary legal entity, Dayforce doesn't calculate and apply any New Jersey state taxes. In this case, the primary legal entity doesn't operate in New Jersey and only generates one employee W2 tax form.
21. Specifically, employees who work at multiple locations within multiple states might not have all of the state taxes calculated and applied. If an employee works in two state locations, if both of those work locations are under the employee’s primary legal entity, then Dayforce applies the state taxes for both. However, if one of the work locations in another state is under a different legal entity (as in the example above) Dayforce doesn't calculate or apply that state’s taxes. Taxes are only applied for states the employee worked in under their primary legal entity.
21. In the Hours show Precision field, enter the number of decimal places (2, 3, or 4) to show for hours on earning statements, the Payroll Register Report, and all of the tabs in Payroll.
    
22. Note: This setting only impacts how hours are shown and has no impact on how payroll data is stored in Dayforce. Increasing the number of decimal places decreases the number of hours shown on an employee’s earning statement, multiplied by their pay rate. Due to rounding, the values didn’t equal the listed dollar amount of their earnings.
22. Select the Adjust WFM hours to balance with amount and rate checkbox to adjust WFM hours balances to match the calculated pay amount. This option applies when the minutes counted toward the pay exceed the WFM hours decimal shown on employee earning statements.
23. Select the Award Entitlement in Payroll Processing checkbox as part of the configuration to award entitlement accruals based on payroll earnings. See Configure Earning Based Accruals.
24. Select the Close WFM Time Data On Payroll Lock checkbox to apply data gate logic on locked pay runs. When selected, the application shows the Close WFM button in Payroll, which allows payroll administrators to delay workflows that would impact employees in the pay run.
25. (US and Canada only) In Earning Statement Detail Level, configure how earnings and hours worked are further itemized by project or workweek. The breakdown of items are shown in the Supplemental Earnings Statement section of the earning statement. This setting applies only to US and Canadian pay groups that don’t pay weekly, such as biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly. For more information about this supplemental section, see The Supplemental Earnings Statement Section.
26. The following options determine what's shown in the supplemental section:
    • Standard: Shows a breakdown of hours worked, earnings, taxes, post-tax deductions, vacation pay, and holiday pay, not separated by project or by workweek.
    • Disable Supplemental Earnings Statement: (Canada only) The earning statement doesn't include the Supplemental Earnings Statement section. As a result, retroactive earnings of Canadian employees that normally show up in the supplemental section are omitted from the earning statement.
    • Weekly: Shows earnings by workweek.
    • Note: For US pay groups, the supplemental section that shows earnings by workweek isn’t available for back office printed earning statements or onsite check statements.
    • Weekly By Project: Breaks down weekly total hours by project and by non-project hours worked. This breakdown also includes hourly rates and the types of hours worked, such as regular, overtime, or premium.
    • Weekly Worked Hours By Project: Breaks down weekly total worked hours and total non-worked hours by project, with their associated rates. Total hours includes all earnings grouped by project, except premium earnings and earnings that aren’t part of the system earning grouping called Hours Worked. Earnings from regular working hours are categorized as worked hours. Earnings that are accrued outside of hours worked are categorized as non-worked hours.
26. Select the Update Pay Entry Rates on Pay Run Recalc checkbox to update imported pay entries that contain any rate code rates that were changed after the import, but before the pay run was committed. Clear the checkbox, and the application applies the rate code rate that was effective at the time of the import.
    Note: This functionality only works when using the Pay Entry Import.
    
27. In the Minutes delay for online report generation after commit field, enter the number of minutes for Dayforce to delay the generation of online reports after a pay run is committed.
28. In the Minutes delay for GL Export generation after commit field, enter the number of minutes for Dayforce to delay the generation of the GL Export file after a pay run is committed.
29. (Service User Role only) Select the Get Schedule Cost From WFM for Forecast Pay checkbox as part of the configuration to enable the application to pay employees based on schedule cost data from WFM. See Configure Schedule Forecast Pay.
30. In the Country field, select the country to which the pay group is associated. The application uses this country's currency for the pay group.
31. If the client organization is set up for Dayforce Print with a US print location city configured as a client payroll property, Support users can override the print location at the pay group level by selecting a new option in the Dayforce Print Location Override drop-down list.
32. Select the Printed Advices checkbox and Dayforce will print direct deposit advices for any employees in the pay group that receive some or all of their pay as a direct deposit.
    Clear the checkbox and direct deposit advices aren’t produced for the pay group's employees.
33. (US only) Select the Display Current Accrual Balance For Onsite Checks checkbox to display accrued entitlement balances that an employee has earned on onsite checks. Accruals are displayed for employees with balances greater than zero, and only contains the current balance from the last committed pay run.
34. In the Credit Journal Number (for Net Pay) field, enter the pay group's credit journal number. This number is used to identify the pay group in the General Ledger.
35. In the Identifier field, enter the number is used to identify the pay group for the Dayforce Back Office. Not used by Singapore pay groups.
    For US pay groups, the identifier must be unique and seven characters in length.
    For Canadian pay groups, the identifier must start with the letters E, F, or L (to indicate the series), then have an alphanumeric character other than O, I, or Z, and then have 3 numeric characters.
36. Note: E4000, F4000, and L4000 are reserved and cannot be used.
36. If necessary, enter a value in the Normal Pay Period Work Hours field. Dayforce uses this number when calculating salary rates if an individual employee doesn't have normal hours assigned in People.
37. Select the Large Pay Group checkbox to configure the application so that it does not display the breakdown of payroll data per employee in the bottom of the Preview tab in Payroll.
    When selected, the application only displays the top panel in the Preview tab which displays the amounts of earnings, deductions, and taxes per legal entity but does not contain the bottom panel which shows this information broken out for each employee.
    Not displaying the employee breakdown will improve the application's performance when loading pay runs; typically, this functionality is used for pay groups with a large number of employees (in the tens of thousands).
38. Select the Force Payroll Earnings Replace checkbox to match only the employee name and earning code when a payroll administrator selects the Replace checkbox in the Quick Entry tab of Payroll. Clear this checkbox, and the application matches the employee name, earning code, EI rate group (in Canada), legal entity, org unit, project, docket, labor metric, pay run, job assignment, tax method, and adjustment pay run before replacing the earning.
39. Select the Enable Statement Email Notification checkbox, and the application emails the pay group's employees when their earning statements are ready, provided they have a valid email address saved in their details.
40. Select the Enable Tax Form Email Notification checkbox, and the application emails the pay group's employees when their tax forms are ready, provided they have a valid email address saved in their details.
41. Enter a number in the Payroll Time Data Display Limit field to limit the number of records displayed in the Time Data tab of Payroll. This is helpful for large pay groups where administrators generally filter the data once the tab is loaded.
42. (Canada only) Enter a number in the Pay Entry Future Pay Periods By Months field to allow payroll administrators to record checks and quick entries associated with future pay runs in Payroll, so that they are allocated properly when a Record of Employment (ROE) form is issued to a Canadian employee, for example. When configured, the application populates the appropriate future-dated pay runs as options in the PPN drop-down list in the Check Entry tab of the Checks tab, and in the Quick Entry tab.
43. (Canada only) Select an option from the ROE Block 17A Vacation Pay Reason drop-down list to define a reason option that is preconfigured in the Reason drop-down list of the Block 17A: Vacation Pay section of ROE forms in the ROE tab of Payroll > Pay Run Management and Payroll > Data Entry. Users can still update the Reason drop-down list of individual ROEs, if needed.
44. (Optional) In the Certified Payroll Export Configuration drop-down list, select a certified payroll export configuration. More information about certified payrolls is available in the topic Certified Payrolls.
45. (Service User Role only) If needed, make a selection from the Assign Default Value for Null Business Dates and Assign Date uses as criteria in qualifiers for Payroll Policy and Payroll Mapping Rules settings. See Configure Default Dates for Payroll Qualifiers and Generated Earnings.
46. (Service User Role only) If needed make a selection from the Assign date used as criteria in qualifiers for Payroll Policy setting to define whether the application uses pay date or pay period end date to qualify employees for payroll policy and mapping qualifiers. See Configure Default Date for Payroll Policy Rule and Mapping Qualifiers.
47. (Canada only) Select one of the following options in the Default Tax Slip Distribution drop-down list to set the default for the pay group for how employees receive tax forms:
    • Paper All Employees Default: Employees in Active and Inactive status who have chosen to receive online-only tax forms receive electronic tax forms. All other employees in all statuses receive printed forms.
    • Online Active Employees: All employees in Active status receive electronic tax forms. All employees in Inactive status who chose to receive online-only tax forms receive electronic tax forms. All other employees receive printed tax forms. This is the default setting.
    • Online Active and Inactive Employees: All employees in Active and Inactive status receive electronic tax forms. All employees in Terminated status receive printed tax forms.
    • Online All Employees: All employees receive electronic tax forms.
48. (Canada only) Clear the Allow Tax Slip Distribution Employee Override checkbox to ignore any delivery option selections made by employees in Employee Self-Service. This option is selected by default.
49. (US only) Select the Adjust Earning Statement Period End checkbox to add one day to the pay period end date to display on earning statements in order to support reporting requirements in some jurisdictions in the United States.
50. For international pay groups where the country's statutory tax dates aren’t January 1 to December 31, select date options in the Tax Year Start Month and Tax Year Start Day drop-down lists. It is important to configure the correct date based upon the statutory tax dates of the pay group's country. Any other date configuration is incorrect.
51. Note: Tax year start dates are only configurable for pay groups that do not yet have any committed pay runs. After an associated pay run has been committed, the application displays the drop-down lists as read-only.
51. (Ireland and UK only) Select the Allow Advance Payment Weeks checkbox to allow employees in the pay group to be paid in advance.
52. (Ireland only) Select the Enable pension tax relief warning checkbox to display a warning message in Payroll > Pay Run Management when an employee reaches the annual tax relief limit for pension contributions.
53. (UK only) Select the Exclude new starts in pay period with hire date after pay date to give UK payroll administrators the option of excluding new hires from a pay period if they start work after the pay date.
54. (UK only) Select the Auto Update Employee NI Numbers checkbox to enable the application to support two or more tax information records for employees who belong to two or more legal entities.
55. (UK only) Select the Use default Starter Declaration checkbox to enable the application to automatically generate default tax and NI details for employees when these details aren’t yet recorded at the time of pay run calculation. See Automatic Employee UK Tax and NI Records.
56. Enter an amount in the Employee Net Pay Warning field, and the application displays a warning message in the Problems panel when an employee's pay exceeds it.
57. Enter an amount in the Total Payroll Warning field, and the application displays a warning message in the Problems panel when a pay period's total payroll exceeds it.
58. Enter a percentage value in the Salaried Earnings Variation From Last Period (%) field, and the application displays a warning in the Problems panel when a pay period's salaried earnings vary from the previous pay period by that percentage.
59. Enter a percentage value in the Total Net Pay Variation (%) field, and the application displays a warning in the Problems panel when a pay period's total net pay varies from the previous pay period by that percentage.
60. In the Settings for ConnectedPay section, select the ConnectedPay Enabled checkbox if the organization is already configured to import future-dated pay data, using the Pay Run History Import file. See Configure Client Payroll Properties.
61. Select the Allow Future Dated Import checkbox to allow payroll administrators and other authorized users to import data for future-dated pay runs. When the checkbox is cleared, the import fails if the file contains future-dated data.
62. Select the Enable Email Alert for Import/Approve/Reject Payruns checkbox, and enter one or more email addresses, separated by commas, in the Email Addresses for Import/Approve/Reject Payruns - Use a comma to separate each one field. When a ConnectedPay pay run is imported and approved, rejected, or under review, email notifications are sent. The email notification contains the customer ID, customer name, pay group name, pay group description, pay group reference code, pay period, pay period suffix, pay period start and end dates, and pay date.
63. (Optional) Select an alert option in the Enable Alert for Payroll Lock/Unlock drop-down list when you lock or unlock a set of quick entries, and enter one or more email addresses in the Email Addresses for Payroll Lock/Unlock - Use a comma to separate each one field of the recipients who should receive notifications when you lock or unlock your quick-entry data.
64. Select the Enable Email Alert for Document Manager Import checkbox to email specified recipients when documents in Document Management are queued, loaded, or failed. Enter one or more email addresses of the recipients who should receive these updates in the field.
65. Select an option in the Enable Alert for Quick Entry Delete field to notify your payroll partner when you unlock a pay run and delete existing quick entries. Enter one of more email addresses of the recipients who should receive these updates in the Email Addresses for Quick Entry Delete – Use a comma to separate each one field. The notification contains the list of reference codes of the deleted entries, customer (client) name, user name, timestamp, and pay run information like pay period number (PPN) and pay group details.
66. Enter string values in the Payroll Key field to provide instructions to set specific field outputs with Dayforce Link exports.
67. Enter or select the number of days in the Offset Pay Period Days field to offset your pay period and to align your pay period more accurately.
68. Select the Including Saturday & Sunday pay dates checkbox to pay ConnectedPay users on weekends. After selecting this checkbox you can select any day of the week, including the weekend, as a pay date for the selected pay group.
69. Select an option in the On-Demand Pay Configuration list. You can select from a list of configurations that are added in the On-Demand Pay screen of Payroll Setup. The list is available only if a user with a service role has selected the Enable On-Demand Pay checkbox in the Payroll section of the Properties tab in System Admin > Client Properties.
70. (Optional) Set a date in the Display ICP Pay Slips As Of field when the payroll partner is supplying locally compliant earning statements. Starting on the selected date, the application suppresses the displaying of HTML earning statements that Dayforce generates so that only the earning statements that payroll partners upload to Dayforce are available in Self-Service and in an employee's profile in People. If you select a date, earning statements that payroll partners import in Document Management are available for pay runs with pay dates on or after the date that you specify in this field. By default, this field is empty, and if you leave it empty, Dayforce continues to display HTML earning statements.
71. (Service roles only) Select an option in the Payroll Partner drop-down list to designate the payroll partner that processes the payroll of the pay group. This option is available only if you select ConnectedPay Enabled.
72. (Optional) Select an option in the Automatically Approve Off-Cycle Types drop-down list to mark a specific off-cycle type that does not require review in Dayforce and to automatically mark as approved, after the Global Pay Run Import (GPRI) is loaded. You can choose one or both of the following options:
    • Adjustment
    • Advance

Generate Pay Calendars

To generate pay calendars:

1. Go to Pay Setup > Pay Group and select a pay group.
2. Click the Pay Calendars tab.
3. Click Generate.

Note: Committed pay periods are shown as read-only.