Overview
Snow work usually pays differently from your green season. Set up snow pay codes so your crews' time is paid and costed at the right rate without anyone recoding hours in Time Entry. This article walks you through creating snow pay codes, adding them to your snow services, and handling employees who earn their own snow rate.
Things to know
A pay code changes an employee's rate for the hours logged on it. It adds a dollar amount, adds a percentage, or replaces their base rate with a fixed rate. Each pay code uses only one of these.
Your pay codes must match the codes your payroll provider uses, or your hours export won't import correctly. Check with your payroll provider before you create them.
Set up your snow pay codes before you estimate snow contracts. A service's default pay code copies onto each new opportunity it's added to. Changing it later in the Service Catalog doesn't update opportunities you've already built.
If you pay crews a set amount per visit instead of by the hour, use a Flat Rate pay code. For more information, visit Set Up and Use Flat Rate Pay.
Requirements
To create pay codes and set a service's default pay code, users must have the System Admin permission.
To add override pay codes to an employee’s Contact record, users must have the HR Admin permission and either the Edit All Contacts or Edit My Contacts permission. Users can only edit payroll details for employees in branches they have access to.
To change default pay codes on an opportunity after its estimate is complete, users must have the Edit Default Hourly Pay Codes in Any Stage permission.
Steps
Choose how each snow pay code pays
Decide how each type of snow work pays before you create anything. Your pay policies and employee agreements set the rates. Aspire just applies them.
If snow work pays… | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
A set dollar amount above each employee's base rate | Premium Dollars on the pay code | "Snow Labor" adds $5 an hour. "Snow Plower" adds $3 an hour. |
A percentage above each employee's base rate | Premium Percent on the pay code | "Snow Shoveler" adds 35 percent. |
The same hourly rate for everyone, regardless of base rate | Fixed Rate on the pay code | "Snow" pays $18 an hour to every employee. |
A different rate for each employee | One pay code, plus an override pay code on each employee's Contact record | Five operators earn five different snow rates. See Set snow rates for individual employees. |
For each pay code, also decide whether its hours count toward overtime. By default, they do. That's a payroll and HR decision. Check with your HR team before you select Exclude From OT.
Create a snow pay code
Follow these steps for each snow pay code you need.
Go to Administration > Application > Lists.
From the list menu, select Pay Code.
Select New.
In Pay Code Type, select Hourly.
In Pay Code Name, enter a name your team will recognize, such as "Snow Labor."
In Pay Code, enter the matching code from your payroll provider, such as "SNOW."
Enter the rate in one field only: Premium Dollars, Premium Percent, or Fixed Rate.
If you'll set each employee's rate with an override pay code, you can leave all three empty.
To keep this pay code's hours out of the overtime calculation, select Exclude From OT.
Select Save.
Caution: Enter a value in only one of Premium Dollars, Premium Percent, or Fixed Rate. A pay code with more than one rate field filled in causes payroll errors.
Add the pay code to your snow services
Set your snow pay code as the default on each snow service. Aspire then applies it every time the service is added to an opportunity, so crews' time lands on the snow pay code automatically.
Go to Administration > Estimating > Service Catalog.
Select a snow service.
In Default Pay Code, select your snow pay code.
Select Save.
For the rest of the snow service settings, visit Setting Up Snow Services.
Note: On an individual opportunity, you can change the default pay code on the service's Service Details screen before you complete the estimate. For more information, visit Estimate Service Details Screen Reference.
Set snow rates for individual employees
If each employee earns their own snow rate, add an override pay code to their Contact record. When they log time on a snow ticket, Aspire uses their override rate for the snow pay code instead of the rate on the pay code.
Open the employee's Contact record.
In Pay Rates, select the three-dot icon next to their current pay rate.
Select Add Override Paycodes.
In Pay Code, select your snow pay code.
In Override Rate, enter the employee’s snow rate.
Select Save in the Override Paycodes window, then select Save on the Contact record.
Repeat these steps for each employee with their own snow rate. Set the same snow pay code as the default on your snow services, so each employee's override applies when they clock in.
Caution: When you save changes to an employee’s override pay codes, Aspire updates the hourly rate on time already logged to existing work tickets. If the employee has time on that pay code in a closed month, Aspire won’t let you save the override. Add snow overrides before the first storm, or review the employee’s time records after you save.
Pay overtime on snow override rates
Aspire doesn't calculate overtime on override pay codes automatically. If employees with an override snow rate can earn overtime during a storm, create an overtime pay code for snow, such as "Snow OT," and add it as an override with each employee's snow overtime rate.
Create a pay code named "Snow OT" using the steps in Create a snow pay code, and select OT Pay Code.
On each employee's Contact record, add Snow OT on a new row in the same Override Paycodes window, with their snow overtime rate.
On the Weekly Time Review screen, move hours over the overtime threshold to "Snow OT."
Important: How you set OT Pay Code depends on how your payroll provider wants to receive overtime. Confirm with your provider before you export snow payroll. For more information, visit Payroll Setup for Other Payroll Systems.
Pay temporary and full-time crews differently
If temporary labor and full-time employees work the same snow service but earn different rates, you can assign a pay code to each pay schedule on the opportunity.
On the opportunity's estimate, select the snow service to open the Service Details screen.
In Default Pay Codes, select a pay code and the pay schedule it applies to, such as your snow premium pay code for your full-time pay schedule.
To apply a pay code to everyone else, add one more pay code without a pay schedule.
Select Save.
Employees whose pay schedule isn't in the table get the pay code without a pay schedule. If there isn't one, they get the default pay code from their own pay schedule.
What happens next
When crews log time on a snow work ticket, their hours use the snow pay code from the service, and each employee's override rate if they have one.
Review snow hours and pay codes on the Time Entry and Weekly Time Review screens before you export payroll.
Next, set up your snow routes and subcontractors. For the full setup order, visit Snow Season Overview.
Troubleshooting
For help with common snow problems, visit Snow Troubleshooting.