Shift Differential Review Before Payroll Close

Payroll handoff readiness check

Use this table before a provider or Filipino payroll support worker receives access.

Keep the eligibility rule in one place

Write down which shifts earn a differential, whether the premium applies to all hours or only hours actually worked, and how the rule interacts with overtime. A collective agreement, an offer letter, or a state requirement may add a condition that the timekeeping code does not capture.

Link the rule to its source and effective date. When a rate or shift window changes, add a new version instead of editing the old one, so a reviewer can explain a prior paycheck.

Compare the export with the rule, not with last week

Pull the timekeeping export for the pay period and group hours by employee, shift code, and work date. Compare each group with the written rule rather than with the prior payroll, because a copied error can persist for months.

Flag employees whose shift code changed mid-period, who worked a partial shift, or who crossed a daylight-saving boundary. Those cases usually need a human read of the actual punches.

Calculate nothing the owner has not authorized

The assistant can show the hours, the applicable rule, and the proposed premium for review. Do not post a retroactive adjustment or change a pay rate without the owner's approval and a reason code.

If the timekeeping system applies a different multiplier than the written rule, record both values and ask one precise question. Do not overwrite the system value to make the report look consistent.

Use a short exception list

Limit the daily list to cases that need a decision: missing shift code, conflicting rule versions, unusual partial shift, and hours that cross the premium boundary. Add the employee, the date, the evidence link, the proposed action, and the owner.

Keep a separate count of clean records so the team can see the size of the review population. A list of ten exceptions means something different when 40 records were checked than when 400 were.

Reconcile after the run

After payroll posts, sample the employees who had an exception and confirm the final premium matches the approved decision. Record any correction that lands in a later period and the reason.

At month end, group exceptions by shift, supervisor, and rule version. A cluster may point to a code that was never updated, a supervisor who schedules across the boundary, or a rule that is hard to apply.

Document the change control

When the team changes a shift code, a premium rate, or an approval step, record the effective date, the owner, and the sample used to test the change. Keep the prior version available for audit.

Do not announce a rule change only in a meeting. Put the current version where the timekeeping and payroll reviewers can find it, and remove the old copy from the working folder.

Questions from payroll buyers