Managing the Hours Structure

⚡ What is the Hours Structure? 

The Hours Structure is the default, company-wide setup that determines how daily overtime, doubletime, and weekly overtime are automatically calculated and paid out for your hourly employees. It's what tells the platform when a clock entry moves from Regular pay into Overtime (OT) or Doubletime (DT), and at what rate.

When you first join, the Hours Structure is set to align with the labour laws of your province or state, so the exact fields and toggles you see on this page may vary depending on your business's location. The Hours Structure can also be customized to fit your business's specific needs or company policy, but any changes should always comply with local employment standards.

For example, in British Columbia, weekly overtime must be calculated based on a fixed Sunday-to-Saturday week, regardless of your payroll schedule. 

📌 | Note: The Hours Structures apply only to hourly employees. Overtime isn't automatically calculated and paid out for salaried employees, so the rules applied won't have any effect.

🔎 Why Use The Hours Structure?

Here are some common reasons this setup matters:

• No manual calculations: Once configured, the platform automatically calculates and pays out daily overtime (Overtime and Doubletime) and weekly overtime for eligible employees. No more manual calculations or payouts every pay period.
• Saves time: Automating these calculations reduces the time spent reviewing timesheets and manually adjusting pay each pay period.
• Built-in compliance: Default thresholds are aligned with your province or state's labour laws, reducing the risk of miscalculated overtime.
• Flexibility where needed: Customize the Hours Structure to fit your business's specific needs.

💡 | Tip: Want to know as soon as an employee moves into overtime? Consider setting up our Overtime and Weekly Overtime alarms. 

🔐 Access required

The Hours Structure requires the Payroll Add-On.

📌 | Note: For the platform to automate calculating and paying hourly employees for overtime, it also requires the use of our Time Tracking feature.

Who can manage the Hours Structure?

• Super Administrators: Full access to view and update the Hours Structure, including enabling/disabling Overtime, Doubletime, and Weekly Overtime, and adjusting their ranges and rates.

Who cannot manage the Hours Structures?

• Team Administrators: Do not have access to update the Hours Structure. If you need a change made, please confirm with a Super Administrator.

📋 Topics covered in this article:

• Understanding How Overtime Is Calculated
• Updating the Hours Structure
• Resyncing Clock Entries After Updating the Hours Structure
• Frequently Asked Questions About The Hours Structure

📚 Related articles:

• Managing Custom Hours Structures

Understanding How Overtime Is Calculated

Before adjusting the Hours Structure, it helps to understand the two ways overtime can be calculated: daily and weekly.

Daily Overtime

Daily overtime is based on how many hours an employee works in a single day:

• Regular Hours: The standard number of hours an employee can work in a day at their regular pay rate.
• Overtime (OT): Hours worked beyond the standard daily limit, typically paid at 1.5x the regular rate.
• Doubletime (DT): Hours worked beyond a longer daily threshold (often 12+ hours), typically paid at 2x the regular rate.

Tracking Period Overtime

Rather than looking at a single day, a tracking period overtime looks at an employee's total hours worked across a longer period of time. Once their total hours for that period go over a set threshold, the remaining hours are paid at an overtime rate. For example, paying 1.5x for any hours worked over 40 in a week.

Only one tracking period can be in use at a time, choose from: 

• Weekly (most common): Calculates overtime based on an employee's total hours worked within a single week (7 days).

• Biweekly: Calculates overtime based on an employee's total hours worked across a two-week period (14 days).

• Three Weeks: Calculates overtime based on an employee's total hours worked across a three-week period (21 days).

• Four Weeks Overtime: Calculates overtime based on an employee's total hours worked across a four-week period (28 days).

Updating the Hours Structure

If you need to adjust how overtime is calculated for your business, such as changing when overtime or doubletime kicks in, or updating your weekly overtime tracking period, you can do so from this page. Any changes apply company-wide to all hourly employees who aren't assigned a Custom Hours Structure.

💡 | Tip: If specific employees follow different overtime rules than the rest of your company (such as an averaging agreement). Check out our Managing Custom Hours Structures article to learn how to set that up.

1. In the top right-hand corner, click the Company Name.
2. In the drop-down menu, click Company Setup.
3. From the left-hand navigation bar, select Hours Structure.
4. The page will load to Hours Structure page and will showcase the existing overtime rules.
5. Check or uncheck the boxes next to Overtime (OT), Doubletime (DT), and/or Weekly Overtime to control which calculations are enabled for your business and adjust the thresholds as needed. 
   Please review the table below for additional details:

6. Setting	What It Does	How to Configure It	Notes
   Regular	The baseline range paid at the Regular rate.	Set the Range 2 field to define where Regular hours end (e.g. 8.00). The Range 1 field will be greyed out and not editable, it will always remain at 0.00.  The Rate field will be greyed out and not editable, it will always remain at Regular.	This row is always active, there's no checkbox to enable or disable it.
   Overtime (OT)	Hours paid at an overtime multiplier once the Regular range is exceeded.	Check the box to enable it, then set Range 1, Range 2, and the Rate multiplier (e.g., 8.00 to 12.00 hours at 1.5x).	Once the overtime's Range 2 threshold is reached, any remaining hours automatically move into Doubletime, if it's enabled.
   Doubletime (DT)	Hours paid at a doubletime multiplier once the Overtime range is exceeded.	Check the box to enable it, then set Range 1, Range 2 (or Onwards), and the Rate multiplier (e.g. 12.00 to Onwards at 2.00x).	If Doubletime is disabled, set Overtime's Range 2 to Onwards instead of a fixed number, so it covers all hours beyond the Overtime threshold.
   Tracking Period Overtime	Overtime calculated on an employee's total hours across a longer tracking period, rather than per day.	Check the box to enable it, then click the Type drop-down to choose one tracking period: Weekly, Biweekly, Three Weeks, or Four Weeks Overtime. Set the hours threshold under Range 2 and the Rate multiplier (e.g. 40.00 at 1.5x). Under Start Week, click the drop-down menu and select the day of the week the overtime will begin (e.g. If Sunday is chosen, weekly overtime will be calculated from Sunday to Saturday). Under Hours Used, click the drop-down menu and select either Regular or Total. Under Start Date, click the drop-down menu and select the day the tracking period overtime will begin (e.g. start date of a specific pay period).	Range 1 always shows Over and can't be edited.  Only one tracking period can be active at a time.  Under Hours Used, Regular will only count an employee's regular hours worked toward the weekly total, while Total also includes daily OT and DT. For example, if an employee worked 10-hours today, they have 8hrs reg + 2hrs OT. If Regular is assigned under Hours Used, only the 8hrs reg is used for OTW calculation. But if Total is assigned instead, 10hrs are used for the OTW calculation.
   Calculate Overtime Pay Using	Controls how the 1.5x overtime rate is calculated for eligible hours.	Choose Province's Minimum Wage (default) to calculate the rate from the province's minimum wage, or Employee's Assigned Position Wage to calculate it from the employee's own wage instead.	This field only appears for businesses located in New Brunswick or Newfoundland and Labrador. Other accounts will not see this setting to configure.

7. Once done, click Update Hours Structure, and the page will refresh with the latest changes!
   ⚠️ | Warning: Changes to the Hours Structure apply moving forward from the date they're saved and will not automatically apply retroactively. If you need the change to apply to hours already clocked in (or recorded in Timesheets for) the current pay period, you'll need to request a clock resync. See the section below for more details. 
    

Resyncing Clock Entries After Updating the Hours Structure

Because Hours Structure changes only apply moving forward, any hours already clocked in the current pay period will keep using the old settings unless you request a resync. This step ensures overtime is recalculated correctly for hours worked before the update.

1. Send an email to support@pushoperations.com.
2. Title the email: Resync Clocks for the Hours Structure.
3. Include your Company Name and a Start Date — either the start date of the current pay period or a specific date of when you want the changes to be applied moving forward.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Hours Structure

Have questions about setting up or updating the Hours Structure? Whether you're wondering how ranges work, what happens if you forget to resync, or who's affected by a change, this section provides quick answers to help you manage overtime with confidence.

Q: Why isn't overtime calculating for my employees?
A: The most common reason is that Overtime (OT), Doubletime (DT), or Weekly Overtime isn't checked in the Hours Structure.

• If checked, the platform automatically calculates overtime pay for eligible employees based on the thresholds you've set, and includes those payments in payroll.
• If unchecked, the platform treats all hours as regular time, even if an employee works beyond the standard limit, and no automatic overtime pay is issued.

Review your current settings under the Updating the Hours Structure section above. A couple of other things worth checking: whether the employee is salaried (the Hours Structure doesn't apply to them; only Hourly or with a Daily Rate), or whether their Position is assigned a Custom Hours Structure that doesn't include overtime, such as a "No OT" structure.

💡 | Tip: Want to check this across multiple employees at once? Run the Employee Information Report and filter by Hours Structure. It'll list whether each employee follows the Hour Structure (will state 'Company Default') or is assigned to a Custom Hours Structure, in which case it'll show the name of that structure.

Q: Does the Hours Structure apply to salaried employees? 
A: No. The Hours Structure only applies to hourly employees. Employees with a daily rate who clock in and out may still have their hours affect pay, depending on their position configuration. Administrators can still include overtime pay for salaried employees, but it needs to be set up manually through Earnings & Deductions.

Q: What happens if I don't request a resync to clock entries after making a change? 
A: The new Hours Structure will only apply from the date it was saved onward. Hours already clocked earlier in the current pay period will keep using the previous settings, which can result in incorrectly calculated overtime. For more details, refer to the Resyncing Clock Entries section of this article.

Q: Can Hours Structure changes be applied to a payroll that's already been approved? 
A: No. Changes (including resync requests) cannot be applied to payrolls that have already been processed or approved.

Q: What if a specific employee needs different overtime rules than the rest of the company? 
A: You can create a Custom Hours Structure and assign it to that employee's Position. For more details, refer to our Managing Custom Hours Structures article.

Q: Does the Hours Structure apply the same way across my company, and can I see if it's ever been changed?
A: By default, the Hours Structure is set up to match your local labour laws at the time you join or onboard. After that, any changes made are tracked on the Hours Structure page under the History of Changes section. We recommend reviewing that section if you're concerned that the overtime rules have been adjusted at some point. Any change listed will show the administrator by name, a date and time stamp, and what the setting was changed from (e.g., Daily OT 8.00 to 12.00).

Q: Why do the settings or toggles available on the Hours Structure page differ from those of another customer? 
A: Each province and state has its own overtime rules, so depending on your business's location, you may only have access to certain settings or toggles for adjusting how overtime is calculated. There may be restrictions in place based on local employment standards. If you're unsure which fields apply to you, we recommend reviewing your province or state's employment standards or consulting legal/payroll counsel.

Q: Can the Hours Structure still calculate overtime if my employees don't clock in and out, and I manually add their hours under Timesheets instead?

Not in the same way. The overtime thresholds you set in the Hours Structure only apply to employees who clock in and out. PUSH automatically separates their hours into Regular, Overtime, and Doubletime based on those ranges. 

For employees whose hours are entered manually under Timesheets, you'll need Overtime (OT) and/or Doubletime (DT) and/or Weekly Overtime enabled in the Hours Structure first—this is what gives you access to input fields for those hour types under Timesheets. Without enabling them, the fields won't appear, and you won't be able to manually enter overtime hours there. Once enabled, you'll need to manually allocate the appropriate hours to those fields, since the platform won't calculate the split for you. Alternatively, if applicable, you can add overtime pay via a manual Earnings & Deductions entry.

📌 | Note: Timesheets and clocking in/out can't be used at the same time. Most businesses use the clock-in/out feature.

Additional Information

Need further help? Refer to our Getting Help & Contacting Support article for the latest support options and ways to connect with our team.