Fixed earning of hours for hour bank
The hour bank in BitaBIZ can be used in several ways:
Ongoing registration of overtime and time off or flex time, which updates the hour bank balance with plus/minus time
Fixed earning of hours per month, quarter, or year
It is possible to combine fixed earning with regular overtime and flex time registration.
It is also possible to use the hour bank only as a balance with fixed earning, which is only used for planning earned hours (time off).
This article describes how to set up and manage fixed earning.
Rules for fixed earning of hours
When fixed earning is activated, the following rules apply:
Earning can follow the month, quarter, or year
Hours are automatically credited on the 1st of the selected period
Once the earning is credited, it is locked and cannot be automatically removed
The employee must be connected to the policy on the 1st of the earning period to receive the earning
Earning only starts from the next period
Important for new hires
New employees do not earn hours in the first period if they were not connected to the policy on the 1st of the period.
If the employee should receive earning in the first period, the balance must be adjusted manually. Read more about manual increase here.
Connecting fixed earning to the hour bank
The fixed earning is credited to the employee's policy.
Go to Setup Admin
Click Modules
Open the relevant policy
Go to the tab “Time registration – with hour bank”
In the Hour bank section:
Select earning period (Year, Quarter, or Month)
Enter number of hours per period
The earning will then automatically be credited on the 1st of each period.
Use hour bank as a fixed earning balance without overtime or flex time
The hour bank can be used as a fixed earning balance, even if employees do not need to register overtime, flex time, or daily work hours via time registration with hour bank.
This means you can use the hour bank in the same way as an extra balance scheme, where the employee is automatically allocated a fixed number of hours per month, quarter, or year.
Example:
A group of employees, according to their collective agreement, earn 2 hours per month. The hours should be automatically earned in the hour bank, but employees should not be able to earn extra hours through overtime or work hours registration (flex time).
In this case, you can:
Activate fixed earning on the hour bank.
Select earning period, e.g. Month.
Enter number of hours per period, e.g. 2.
Disable access to registration of overtime/flex time on the policy.
Give the employee access to Time registration - with hour bank on the master data card.
Once this is set up, the employee will have access to the hour bank balance and can take hours from the balance, but the employee will not be able to earn variable overtime hours if overtime/flex time is not activated on the policy.
Fixed earning to the hour bank therefore does not require the employee to register work hours with hour bank. It only requires that the hour bank is activated as a balance, and that the employee has access to Time registration - with hour bank on the master data card.
Policy setup with fixed earning of hours without access to register overtime and flex time:
Overview of earned balance
The balance log report shows monthly earning to an employee's hour bank balance, which is credited to the employee via fixed connected earning.
To view earning at employee level:
Go to HR Statistics
Open Report Library
Select Time registration – with hour bank
Open the tab “Balance per selected month”
You can then select a month and add filters if desired.
Read more about the report library for time registration with hour bank here.
FAQ
Can we have both fixed earning and register overtime?
Can we have both fixed earning and register overtime?
Yes. Fixed earning to hour bank and ongoing overtime registration can be combined.
Can we use fixed earning for hour bank without allowing the employee to register overtime?
Can we use fixed earning for hour bank without allowing the employee to register overtime?
Yes. Fixed earning for hour bank can be used without giving the employee access to register overtime or flex time.
If the hour bank should only be used as a fixed earning balance, you need to disable access to overtime/flex time on the policy. The employee can then only use the hour bank to take hours from the balance that is earned on a fixed basis.
The employee must still have access to Time registration - with hour bank on the master data card to access the hour bank balance.
When is fixed earning credited to the hour bank?
When is fixed earning credited to the hour bank?
On the 1st of the selected period (month, quarter, or year), the number of hours chosen on the policy is credited to the hour bank.
When should fixed earning be used?
When should fixed earning be used?
Fixed earning is relevant when the hour bank is used as a fixed balance scheme and not solely for flex time. For example, if the employee has a collective agreement with a fixed earning of hours.
If the hour bank should only handle plus/minus hours from daily registration, fixed earning is not necessary.
Can our employees choose whether to take time off or have their earned hours paid out?
Can our employees choose whether to take time off or have their earned hours paid out?
Yes. On the policy, you can activate that employees on a policy should be able to request payout of hours. If the rule is activated, employees will have access to click "Payout" under their hour bank balance.
How do employees take hours that are earned in the hour bank?
How do employees take hours that are earned in the hour bank?
Employees take hours from the hour bank by registering the absence type Time off.
When the employee selects Time off, the hours are deducted from the employee's hour bank balance. This means the hour bank is used as an absence balance, where the employee can take the hours that have been earned.
The term Time off can be changed to another term if you want to use a different name for employees.
This is changed here:
Setup Admin → Modules → Time registration with hour bank
Can we prevent the hour bank from going negative?
Can we prevent the hour bank from going negative?
No. The hour bank does not have a technical limitation that automatically prevents the balance from going negative.
This also applies if the hour bank is only used for fixed earning and the employee does not have access to register overtime or flex time.
If an employee requests Time off and the absence will result in a negative hour bank balance, this is handled in the manager's approval.
The manager can see the employee's balance in the approval overview. If the balance is or becomes negative, the balance box is shown with a yellow highlight, so the manager is made aware of the negative balance:
It is therefore the manager who decides whether time off with a negative hour bank balance should be approved or rejected.
If the company does not want the hour bank to go negative, managers should be instructed to reject requests for time off when the balance becomes negative.