Shift differential

Shift differential

What is shift differential?
When working outside the traditional 8am to 5pm work hours, employees are paid on what is known as a shift differential basis. This essentially means that they are paid at a different rate when working during hours that are considered outside normal business operations.

Why do businesses employ shift differentials?
At the heart of shift differentials is enticing employees to work these different hours. Because these hours may fall in the early hours of the morning or late into the night, managers might find it hard to fill the shift.

To help with rostering and also keeping operations efficient, employees are offered shift differentials to make working these hours justifiable. The bump in pay is essentially a reward for taking shifts during hours that others might deem unusual.

How can a business efficiently calculate shift differentials?
To ensure that there are no gaps in coverage across a 24-hour period, employers are increasingly turning to shift differentials. While a powerful tool when it comes to enticing workers to take shifts outside what is deemed normal operating hours, there are implications on payroll.

When an employee takes on these shifts, the shift differential will need to be calculated and effectively conveyed during the employee’s next payroll period. With Roubler, the finance department won’t have to rely on manual data entry to capture this change; rather, the software works to automatically take into account attendance data to ensure both a fast and accurate payroll process.