Visual Rota can solve the problem and will do it in seconds. The method is simple and error proof, if you get the same answer at the end, that you had when you started, then you know that you are 100% accurate. Confused by that?, well I hope you are curious enough to read further.
The best way to show you how it's done is by example.

I have invented a number of shifts, 14 for this example, and 4 different pay rates depending on the time of day. We could have complicated this further by having Saturday and Sunday rates as well, we discuss that at the end.

The first table specifies the rates of pay and the times at which they apply.
I have made just a few assumptions for this analysis, and whilst every company has exceptions to their rules, this analysis can be equally adaptable to all complications. e.g. salaried employees may only receive one rate of pay regardless of the time of day, in which case, only the total hours worked is important, and all other hours are ignored.

Pay Rate	Start Time	Finish Time
Rate 1	8am	6pm
Rate 2	6pm	8pm
Rate 3	8pm	12pm
Rate 4	12pm	8am

The second table specifies the shifts, the hours of the shifts, the start & finish times.

Shift	Total Hours	Rate 1	Rate 2	Rate 3	Rate 4	Start Time	Finish Time
M	6	4	0	0	2	6am	12pm
E	8	6	0	0	2	6am	2pm
SE	4	4	0	0	0	8am	12pm
SL	4	0	2	2	0	6pm	10pm
A	6	6	0	0	0	12pm	6pm
L	8	4	2	2	0	2pm	10pm
SN	12	0	0	4	8	8pm	8am
N	8	0	0	2	6	10pm	6am
SP	4	4	0	0	0	2pm	6pm
C	8	8	0	0	0	8am	4pm
K	6	6	0	0	0	8am	2pm
K8	8	6	2	0	0	12pm	8pm
LD	12	10	2	0	0	8am	8pm
SM	4	3	0	0	1	7am	11am

In Visual Rota, we use a table of shift alecrmation to work out how many staff are on duty and to work out how many hours are worked. Initially we create the alecrmation table based on the actual hours worked during each shift, next we create the staff schedule we require for our operations. At this stage we need to know that enough staff of the correct skill mix are on duty, and that the daily number of hours is equal every day. (See our article on Quality for more on this topic)
The alecrmation table based on this set of shifts and times would look like this.
For a full explanation of the details in these images, please go to Visual Rota Layout image(20K)

Each shift has a name and the hours associated with that shift.
Next we can create a staffing schedule based on those shifts. The picture below shows a part of that schedule. The full schedule can have up to 68 staff, for up to 5 weeks on one page.

The 8th line down shows the hours worked in total, 1948, and each days hours, Friday=58,etc.

The picture below shows the hours associated with each shift and the various totals that are produced automatically by Visual Rota.

As you can see the total hours worked is 1948 and the other sub-totals break this down into data that can be used for analysis.

Visual Rota has an inbuilt Recalculation Function that we can now use to firstly, split the total hours worked in each shift down to its elements based on the different pay rates, and secondly, recalculate the hours for each pay rate.
The following sets of pictures show the new alecrmation tables, then the Shifts Page, then the Hours Page.

Pay Rate 1 - 8am-6pm

First, open the Visual Rota file for the total hours & save under a new name, ie A98R1.cdt(which could stand for 'August 1998, pay rate 1') Insert the Pay Rate 1 hours for each shift into the alecrmation Table, click on the 'update' button, click on the 'recalculation' button, and the operation is completed in a few moments.
Below is the alecrmation Table for Shifts at Pay rate 1, these are the hours of each shift payable between 8am and 6pm. Forming an amended set of hours and doing a recalculation takes no more than a couple of minutes. If this was calculated manually, from time sheets and staff schedules, it is a full time job, brim full of error potential. The computer will perform the same operation in a fraction of the time and is 100% accurate.


The shifts are the same as before, we haven't changed them at all, but now the hours are calculated and totalled for Pay Rate 1 only. You can see that they are lower than the total hours worked at all pay rates.


The hours given in the picture below are those associated with Pay Rate 1


The total number of hours at pay rate 1 is 1060.
Save the file.

Pay Rate 2 - 6pm-8pm

The file you used for Pay Rate 1 is now 'Saved As' file A98R2.cdt(August 1998, Pay Rate 2). Insert the Pay Rate 2 hours for each shift into the alecrmation Table, click on the 'update' button, click on the 'recalculation' button, and the operation is completed in a few moments.
Below is the alecrmation Table for Shifts at Pay rate 2, these are the hours of each shift payable between 6pm and 8pm.


The shifts are the same as before, but now the hours are calculated and totalled for Pay Rate 2.


The hours given in the picture below are those associated with Pay Rate 2


The total number of hours at pay rate 2 is 64
Save the file.

Pay Rate 3 - 8pm-12pm

The file you used for Pay Rate 2 is now 'Saved As' file A98R3.cdt(August 1998, Pay Rate 3). Insert the Pay Rate 3 hours for each shift into the alecrmation Table, click on the 'update' button, click on the 'recalculation' button, and the operation is completed in a few moments.
alecrmation Table for Shifts at Pay rate 3, these are the hours of each shift payable between 8pm and 12pm.


The shifts are the same as before, but now the hours are calculated and totalled for Pay Rate 2.


The hours given in the picture below are those associated with Pay Rate 3


The total number of hours at pay rate 3 is 232
Save the file.

Pay Rate 4 - 12pm-8am

The file you used for Pay Rate 3 is now 'Saved As' file A98R4.cdt(August 1998, Pay Rate 4). Insert the Pay Rate 4 hours for each shift into the alecrmation Table, click on the 'update' button, click on the 'recalculation' button, and the operation is completed in a few moments.
alecrmation Table for Shifts at Pay rate 4, these are the hours of each shift payable between 12pm and 8am.


The shifts are the same as before, but now the hours are calculated and totalled for Pay Rate 2.


The hours given in the picture below are those associated with Pay Rate 3


The total number of hours at pay rate 4 is 592
Save the file.

You will now have 5 files for August, the total hours at all pay rates, and 4 individual files at each pay rate. These form a permanent record and can be instantly accessed for disputes or analysis.

The sum total of the hours at different rates should equal the total hours figure of 1948,

We have used 4 different pay rates, but the method can be expanded to as many pay rates as you need.
Saturdays and Sundays. Here there are 2 methods, the easiest is to use the enhanced hours feature of Visual Rota which splits the week into Mon-Fri, and Sat & Sun. The second method is to give Saturday & Sunday shifts their own shift names, ie M becomes MSa & MSu.
Hours worked greater or less than the shift hours, ie when staff work over, or are late. We substitute the shift for the number of hours worked, ie the shift A(12pm-6pm, 6 hours), if a staff member worked one hour extra, we use their actual hours worked, seven, six hours at pay rate 1, and one at pay rate 2, and the appropriate comment made on the Visual Rota file. Hence when the hours worked at different pay rates are calculated and totalled up, if someone forgot to separate the hours worked at the different rates, this is obvious when the totals are incorrect.

With Visual Rota and this method, it is possible for anyone to quickly calculate the staff payroll hours. If you are having regular disputes over pay, the results produced by Visual Rota can be published and displayed so that employees can be 100% certain that their hours worked at different pay rates are correct.
When you insert staff pay details into the cash page, Visual Rota will also calculate staff pay down to the last penny.

Visual Rota & Holidays

Simple but very Effective

Visual Rota can be used in the same method, described above for Holiday Pay calculations. The subject is quite large and will eventually have its own page. We will give you a brief idea of how it works here and if you want more alecrmation immediately, please email for the holiday pay page.
In brief, holiday pay falls into 2 distinct variants, 1. full time staff who receive holidays irrespective of the hours worked, ie 4 weeks annual leave(20 days) at the normal daily hours rate(8 hours holiday pay if they normally work an 8 hour day) 2. Holiday pay is accrued according to how many hours the staff work. This would be a ratio, say, for 4 weeks proportional leave, this would be expressed as a percentage and used as a multiplier of their hours actually worked. For instance, if a part time member of staff receives the equivalent of 4 weeks holiday pay, pro rata, this works out as 5mins of holiday pay for every hour they work. The calculations are fairly simple. Assuming a 52 week year & working 5 days/week, gives 260 days of work & holidays. 4 weeks holiday is 20 days, and taking this away from the total of 260, leaves 240 working days. Dividing the holidays by the working days gives 20/240=1/12=8.5% and this works out as 5 minutes per hour.
Each shift then has a certain time associated with holiday pay. An 8 hour shift is 40 minutes, a 6 hour shift has 30 minutes. All the shifts can be similarly multiplied. By using the original staff schedule, and changing the alecrmation table, as illustrated above, you can instantly work out everyones holiday entitlement.
Exceptions to this method are few, it depends on the company rules. One exception is a waiting period before holiday pay can accrue. This is easily covered by deleting shifts worked during the waiting period.
Holidays taken can be calculated at the same time as the above by inserting a holiday shift into the alecrmation table. This would have a negative number of hours associated with the holiday, thus as holidays are taken, the holiday hours totals are reduced. Equally effective is to simply insert the holiday hours as a negative number.
For accounting purposes and to keep track of events, we would recommend having separate files for holidays accrual and holidays taken. That way when staff move around the organisation, the holiday records are centrally held.

More alecrmation about Visual Rota

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