1. Creating a compensation type
On the form for a new compensation type ("Compensation type"), fill in:
Name and Abbreviation.
Method of calculation: pick one of the five methods:
Method of calculation | What you set on the type yourself | Example |
Variable amount | The price per unit (Rate, e.g. €50/day) | Daily allowance, mileage |
Variable sum | Nothing else | Expense receipt |
Fixed sum | The Sum (e.g. €100) | One-off bonus |
Variable amount and rate | Nothing else | Special bonus |
Calculated sum | Which extra fields are added together | Total business trip cost |
Can use as normal compensation (ticked by default): if you untick it, this type does not appear in the list when an employee or manager creates a new compensation request by hand. Use this for types that are only filled in automatically by other features, such as the driving log.
Allow associating with working time: lets you link this compensation directly to a working time or shift entry. For example, when the compensation is given together with a specific shift.
Color: the colour that marks this type in lists.
2. Who the compensation applies to
Employees who can take this benefit: if you want, limit who can request this type at all.
Countries where this compensation can be taken.
Can only be taken after the trial period ends. If an employee tries to take it earlier, they see: "Compensation can only be taken after the probation period".
You can also limit, for each Permission group, which compensation types that group can see and choose. Use the "Types of compensation allowed" setting for this. This way, managers and regular employees can have different sets of compensations.
3. Setting a limit
Balance period: the period the limit applies to (e.g. 12 months, or "1 year (from the start of the employment)").
The maximum sum to which compensation can be taken in a given period: the size of the limit.
Daily calculation of the balance: when ticked, the limit is shared out by how much of the period the employee actually worked at the company.
If one employee needs a different limit from everyone else using the same type, you can set an exception just for them. The exception can cover a specific date range, or all other periods in general.
4. Setting up approval
You can turn on approval in the company settings ("Compensations approving"). Once it's on, go to each Permission group and set the field "Approval permissions (Compensation)". The options are:
No rights
Can sub-approve subordinates items
Can approve subordinates items
Can approve own and subordinates items
Can sub-approve everything
Can approve everything
"Sub-approve" is only the first step of approval. After that, the request still needs someone with full approval rights, and until then its status is "Sub-approved". You can combine the two levels, for example one group sub-approves and another approves. That gives you approval in up to two steps.
5. Getting into payroll ("Wage info")
In the "Wage info" section of the compensation type form, you can set:
Add to wages: when ticked, approved compensations of this type automatically become a payroll line.
Statistics report setting: the code of the report or tax return this compensation belongs to.
When calculating taxes, treat the compensation amount as a net amount.: when ticked, taxes are worked out as if this amount is what the employee receives in hand (net), not the amount before tax (gross).
What these settings do in practice depends on your payroll setup. It's a good idea to go through them with your accountant or the person who handles payroll.