From time to time, you may want to change an employee’s pay rate. The instructions below apply for any pay rate you might need to change, including salaries, hourly rates or other allowances that you may have set up.
If you want the payment value to be updated for the current pay that you are running, ensure that your employee’s pay is in the ‘data entry’ state. If you have already calculated the pay, you will need to return the pay to the data entry state to make changes.
Change pay rate on your computer
Select Employees on the left hand side of your screen in PaySauce.
Click on the employee's name in the list, then click on the ‘Payments’ tab.
Select the Edit pencil at the right-hand side of the payment line that you'd like to change.
Change the salary value or hourly rate (or any other value that you might be using that needs to be updated).
Click the Ok button a little further down on the right.
Save when you are done
The rate will change for all new pay cycles. Check the change has been made for the current pay cycle in the Run a Pay area.
Change pay rate on your mobile
Tap the Employees icon
Tap the employee name that you want to change a payment for
Under the ‘Rules’ section, tap on the ‘Payments’ line
Tap on the payment that you want to edit
Enter a new value in the amount field, then tap ‘done’.
New pay rate applies for part of a pay period
Changing your employee's rate will always apply the new rate to the whole pay period.
If you want to pay part of a pay period at one rate, and the rest at another, we suggest the following:
Do not update the employee's pay rate yet
For the part of the pay period that you need to apply the new rate for, work out the difference between the old rate and the new rate
Pay the difference to the employee as a fixed amount payment in this pay run
Update the pay rate for the next period
Example:
Hourly
John earns $25 per hour and is getting a pay rise to $28 per hour, effective Wednesday. His pay period runs Monday to Sunday, and he worked 20 hours before the rate change and 15 hours after.
Don't update John's rate yet (leave it at $25 hour)
Calculate the difference: $28 - $25 = $3 per hour
Multiply by hours worked at the new rate: $3 × 15 hours = $45
Add a fixed amount payment of $45 to this pay run
After the pay run, update John's rate to $28 per hour for next period
Salary
Sarah earns $65,000 per year (paid fortnightly, so $2,500 per pay period) and is getting a pay rise to $70,000 per year ($2,692.31 per fortnight), effective from the second week of a pay period.
Don't update Sarah's salary yet (leave it at $65,000)
Calculate the daily difference: ($70,000 - $65,000) ÷ 52 weeks ÷ 5 days = $19.23 per day
Multiply by working days at the new rate: $19.23 × 5 days = $96.15
Add a fixed amount payment of $96.15 to this pay run
After the pay run, update Sarah's salary to $70,000 for next period
Sarah receives: $2,500 + $96.15 = $2,596.15, reflecting one week at her old rate and one week at her new rate.
Calculating back pay
Sometimes a pay rise is agreed after its effective date — for example, you confirm a new rate in March but it's backdated to 1 February. Your employee has been paid at the old rate for a period when they should have been on the new rate, so you owe them the difference. That difference is back pay.
Like the part-period scenario above, back pay is paid as a one-off amount payment on top of the employee's normal pay in the next pay run. How you work out the amount differs depending on whether the employee is hourly or salaried.
The key difference between hourly and salary
For an hourly employee, back pay depends on the actual hours they worked during the backdated period. You need their real hours from each affected pay, because hours vary from pay to pay — you can't assume a standard week.
For a salaried employee, back pay depends only on how much time has passed, not on hours worked. You split the annual salary difference across the pay periods (and any part-period days) in the backdated window.
Calculate back pay for an hourly employee
Work out the difference between the old and new hourly rate.
Add up the actual hours the employee worked from the effective date to the end of the last completed pay. Use their timesheets or pay records.
Multiply the rate difference by the total hours.
Add the result as a fixed amount payment in the next pay run.
Example (Hourly) John's rate increased from $25 to $28 per hour, backdated three weeks. His timesheets show he worked 38, 42 and 35 hours over those weeks.
Rate difference: $28 − $25 = $3 per hour
Total hours in the backdated period: 38 + 42 + 35 = 115 hours
Back pay: $3 × 115 = $345
Add a fixed amount payment of $345 to the next pay run.
Calculate back pay for a salaried employee
Work out the annual salary difference, then divide it down to the per pay period difference.
Count the number of complete pay periods in the backdating time range. For any partial period, work out the daily difference and multiply by working days instead.
Add the period and partial amounts together.
Add the result as a fixed amount payment in the next pay run.
Example (Salary) Sarah's salary increased from $65,000 to $70,000 per year (paid fortnightly), backdated by two complete fortnightly pays.
Annual difference: $70,000 − $65,000 = $5,000
Per fortnight: $5,000 ÷ 26 = $192.31
Two fortnights: $192.31 × 2 = $384.62
Add a lump sum payment of $384.62 to the next pay run.
If the backdated period includes a partial fortnight, use the daily difference instead: $5,000 ÷ 52 weeks ÷ 5 days = $19.23 per day, then multiply by the working days in the partial period and add it on. You should use the number of working days that your employee works in a period to do your calculation - for example, if your employee works 4 days per week, use this instead.
Things to keep in mind
Leave taken during the backdated period: if your employee took annual leave, or was paid for a public holiday, sick or bereavement leave during the backdated window, those payments were also based on the old rate and may need topping up too.
Future holiday pay: back pay counts as gross earnings towards leave calculations, so once it's run through PaySauce it's automatically picked up in the figures used for future holiday pay calculations.
The amount should be loaded as a lump sum payment in the next pay run, and it should be included in leave earnings and KiwiSaver calculations if relevant.
Setting up multiple pay rates
Some employees have more than one pay rate - for example, a specific rate for overtime or different rates for different jobs. It is super easy to add as many pay rates as you need in PaySauce.
Set up multiple rates on your computer
Select Employees on the left hand side of your screen in PaySauce.
Click on the employee's name in the list, then click on the ‘Payments’ tab.
Click on the plus icon on the right hand side to add a new payment type.
If you’re setting up a new hourly rate, select ‘hourly’ in the rule field.
Give your payment line a title (the employee will be able to see the name of this rate on their payslip).
In the frequency field, indicate if the payment is regular or variable. If you want the employee to be able to timesheet to this pay rate, follow our instructions in our ‘Timesheets’ article here.
If the hours are to be entered each pay time, enter ‘0’ in the hours field here.
Enter the hourly rate in the rate field.
Click Ok to save the new payment.
Set up multiple rates on your mobile
Tap the Employees icon.
Tap the employee name that you want to add a payment for.
Under the ‘Rules’ section, tap on the ‘Payments’ line.
Tap the plus icon in the top right.
Select the appropriate rule - choose hourly for an hourly rate.
Give the payment a title.
Select a frequency.
Enter 0 for the hours if it is to be entered each pay time, otherwise specify the hours for each pay.
Enter the hourly rate.
Tap done.