The Piece Rate Rule is used to pay premiums to employees for the quantities of work they produce during their shift. It’s applicable only to employees who track the quantity of work they produce against specific dockets.
Dockets can be configured in Dayforce to track piecemeal work, where employees work on different lines in a plant, or to track accounts that employees work on, completing different files within them.
The Piece Rate Rule can be configured so that:
- Employees are paid an incremented pay rate for any time worked against a docket where they recorded producing a quantity. The rule pays the employee their base rate plus the piece rate of the docket multiplied by the quantity produced and divided by the number of hours spent working in the docket. For example, an employee earns $10 an hour and a piece rate of $1. They work 8 hours and record a quantity of 100 against their docket. The rule calculates the employee’s pay rate as $10 + ($1 rate multiplied by quantity of 100, divided by 8 hours) or $22.50 an hour. $100 for the quantity produced, divided by the 8 hours it took to make it, equals an hourly piece rate of $12.50, added to the base rate of $10.
- Employees are paid an hourly rate where their hourly piece rate replaces their base rate. The rule pays the piece rate of the docket multiplied by the quantity produced and divided by the number of hours spent working in the docket. Continuing the example above, the employee is paid $12.50 an hour for the 8 hours spent working against the docket ($1 rate multiplied by quantity of 100, divided by 8 hours).
- Employees are paid the higher of their base rate or hourly piece rate. The rule examines the employee’s base rate and the hourly piece rate, and pays the higher of the two. Continuing the example above, the rule calculates an hourly piece rate of $12.50 an hour, which is higher than the employee’s base rate of $10, so it pays the employee $12.50 an hour for the 8 hours.
This rule can also be used to comply with legislation in California that requires employees compensated on a piece-rate basis to be compensated for rest and recovery periods and other nonproductive time during their shifts. See California Piece-Rate Compensation.
| Setting | Description |
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| Pay Category to assign | The pay category the rule assigns to any newly created premiums the rule creates for quantity of work produced. |
| Piece rate | Specify the piece rate. This fields overrides the docket’s piece rate as configured in Org Setup > Docket. See Create Dockets. |
| Piece rate to base rate mode |
Select the way employees are paid for quantities produced:
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| Create separate premium for incremental mode | Select this checkbox and select Increment in the drop-down list above to configure the rule to pay the hourly price rate as a separate premium for the number of hours the employee worked in the docket. |
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The dockets that mark eligible or ineligible work. |
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The jobs that mark eligible or ineligible work. Leave blank and the rule doesn’t consider jobs when determining piece rate premiums. |
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The projects that mark eligible or ineligible work. |
| Reset original rate | Select this checkbox and Dayforce uses the rate assigned in this rule when performing calculations for FLSA Overtime. For example, an employee’s base rate is $10, but the Piece Rate Rule pays them a $15 piece rate. With this checkbox cleared, Dayforce uses the employee’s base rate for that time segment when calculating FLSA overtime. With this checkbox selected, Dayforce uses the $15 piece rate in calculations. |
| Remove piece quantity from work detail | Select this checkbox and Dayforce transfers the value of the piece rate quantity to the premium, rather than copying it. When a new premium is created, the work detail is reset to zero, this ensures that the value is only counted once when Dayforce calculates docket quantity on employee timesheets. |
| Pay codes eligible Pay codes ineligible |
The pay codes that mark eligible or ineligible work. |
| Pay categories eligible Pay categories ineligible |
The pay categories that mark eligible or ineligible work. |
| Include Premiums | Select this checkbox to consider time-based premiums as eligible segments. When this checkbox is cleared, the rule only considers work detail segments as eligible segments. |
| Sum Up Hours From Entire Workday | Select this checkbox and Dayforce considers all workday hours, including breaks and meals, that are assigned to the docket for which the piece quantity is being calculated. |
Piece Rate Rule Example
Example: Business Needs
Employees receive a piece rate of $1 for working on the “13 Churchill” docket, which is paid out as an hourly piece rate in addition to their base rate.
Example: Configuration
To configure the rule for this example:
- Enter 1 in the Piece rate field.
- In the Piece rate to base rate mode drop-down list, click Increment.
Example: Results
An employee with a $15 base rate works on the “13 Churchill” docket for 5 hours, during which they produce 10 pieces. The Piece Rate Rule increases employee’s pay rate by $2 per hour, which is the $1 piece rate multiplied by the 10 pieces they produced and divided by the 5 hours spent working on the docket.