Creating New Earnings

This topic discusses:

  • The accumulator structure of earnings.

  • How to create new earnings for shift differentials.

  • How to configure earnings/deduction assignments and override components.

  • User fields.

If you create new earnings, make sure that they conform to the accumulator structure of the delivered earnings. This is to ensure that the new elements are processed correctly and are included in the appropriate gross-to-net calculations.

For example, when you create a new earning, you must add the earning to the TOTAL EARNINGS N accumulator so that is can be processed correctly.

Note: For each taxable earning that you create, you must also define the tax method. To do this, associate the variable TAX VR METHOD with the new earning on the Supporting Element Overrides page, and assign it a value of A (annual), S (supplemental), or C (cumulative).

See Understanding Earning and Deduction Elements.

Accumulator Structure of Earnings

This table describes the accumulator structure of earnings:

Accumulator Name

Description

Contributing Elements

FWT GRS N

Federal withholding tax gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

OAS EE GRS N

Social Security old age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) employee gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

OAS ER GRS N

Social Security OASDI employer gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

MED EE GRS N

Social Security Medicare employee gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

MED ER GRS N

Social Security Medicare employer gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

FUT GRS N

Federal unemployment tax gross

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

TOTAL EARNINGS N

Total earnings

All earnings contribute to this accumulator.

401K GROSS N

401K gross

All 401K eligible earnings contribute to this accumulator.

SWT GRS N

State withholding tax gross

All earnings except BONUS contribute to this accumulator.

SWT GRS SPC N

State withholding tax gross special

The BONUS earning contributes to this accumulator.

SHIFT DIFF UNIT

Shift differential units

REGULAR_UNIT and WAGES_UNIT contribute to this accumulator.

SALARY YTDA

Salary

The SALARY earning contributes to this accumulator.

SALARY HRS SEG

SALARY HRS YTD

Salary hours

These accumulators store standard hours for a salaried payee.

When creating new unit-based earnings that impact or are impacted by shift differentials, you can:

  • Add the units (hours) processed for the new earnings to the accumulator SHIFT DIFF UNIT. This accumulator functions as the Unit component in the calculation rule of the delivered SHIFT - R and SHIFT PCT earnings. SHIFT - R and SHIFT PCT are resolved only if units from other earnings are included in the SHIFT DIFF UNIT accumulator.

    Note: The generation control element ERN GC SHIFT EXC prevents resolution of these earnings if the SHIFT DIFF UNIT accumulator contains no units. This element looks at the accumulator and the values of the shift group and shift ID. If the value of SHIFT DIFF UNIT is greater than 0 and the payee is in a shift group and has a shift ID, the system processes the earnings.

    Note: As delivered, only units from WAGES and REGULAR are included in SHIFT DIFF UNIT.

  • Use the formula ERN FM OVT RATE to calculate the shift differential directly in the Rate component of the earnings' calculation rule. Use OVT 1.5, OVT 2.0, or PREMIUM as models for the new elements.

    ERN FM OVT RATE is defined in the following way:

    ERN BR SHIFT DIFF   >>  GP TEMP001 NUM
If ERN VR SHIFT GRP <> '' Then
    If ERN VR SHIFT D PCT <> 0 Then
        HOURLY RT * ( 1 + ERN VR SHIFT D PCT / 100 )   >>  ERN FM OVT RATE
    Else
        HOURLY RT + ERN BR SHIFT DIFF   >>  ERN FM OVT RATE
    Endif
Else
    HOURLY RT   >>  ERN FM OVT RATE
Endif

    This formula defines the rate in one of three ways:

    1. As the system element HOURLY RT × (1 + ERN VR SHIFT D PCT ÷ 100) if the payee is associated with a shift group and the bracket ERN BR SHIFT DIFF returns a shift percent that is not zero.

    2. As the system element HOURLY RT + ERN BR SHIFT DIFF if the percent returned by the bracket is zero.

    3. If neither a nor b is true, the rate used is the system element HOURLY RT.

If you create earnings that use variables or other supporting elements in their calculation, you can modify or replace the standard supporting element override components to facilitate entering the values of these variables and other elements at either the payee or calender ID override levels.

Note: You can modify the standard supporting element override components by adding or changing field labels, prompt tables, and other page elements to better suit the elements that you want to override.

This topic discusses:

  • User fields for new taxable earnings.

  • User fields for new earnings that calculate or affect shift differential pay.

User Fields for New Taxable Earnings

If you create new taxable earnings, you should associate them with the same tax-related user fields used to define the delivered earnings. These are TAX VR RPT TYPE, TAX VR STATE, and TAX VR METHOD. In addition, all taxable earning accumulators should include these variables as user keys.

User Fields for New Earnings that Calculate or Affect Shift Differential Pay

If you define new earnings that calculate or affect shift pay, you should associate them with the same shift-related user fields used to define WAGES, REGULAR, SHIFT - R, SHIFT PCT, and the overtime earnings. These are ERN VR SHIFT GRP and ERN VR SHIFT ID. In addition, all accumulators for earnings that process or affect shift differentials should include these variables as user keys.