Employee Benefits

How can I pay employee benefits at a different hourly rate?

Depending on your situation, there are a couple of possibilities.

Example 1:
One benefit (like training) is paid at a different rate, but other benefits (vacation, sick time, etc.) are paid at the normal pay rate.Add the benefit as a separate line to the Employee Pay Rate screen with its own hourly rate. Each employee will have two hourly Pay Codes: one with their normal position and rate (like “Teacher”) with the benefit box checked (to pay vacation, sick time, etc. at the normal rate) and a second line just for “Training”.

Example 2:
All benefits are paid at a different rate (different from the rate for hours worked).

Create a Pay Code (like “Benefits”) and assign it, as a second line, on the Employee Pay Rate screen. Place a check in the Benefit box for that Pay Code. The employee will have two pay codes, one for “Teacher” and a second for “Benefits”. All benefits (vacation, sick, training, etc.) will be paid at that rate.

How do I accrue sick time for every thirty hours worked?

Some states, including Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and Oregon, may require certain benefits (like Sick Time) to be based on 30, rather than 40 hours worked. To do this in Procare, use the Batch Post Accrued Benefits feature. Every hour of benefits based on a 30 hour week is the same as 1.33 hours for a 40 hour week (40 divided by 30 equals 1.33).

In the example below, the goal is to post 1 hr for every 30 hrs worked.

How do I delete old benefits for vacation earned, used, etc.?

Use the Maintenance Utility to remove old items from the Employee Benefits screen. Here’s how it works:

1. Since benefits that have been used appear on staff time cards, the Used and Earned tabs of the benefits screen are cleared when you purge old Employee Time Card entries. On the selected date (usually Dec. 31st of the prior year) an off-setting “Balance Forward” entry is automatically made on the Earned tab so the ending balance of vacation, sick time, etc. remains correct.
   

2. Planned benefits affect staff schedules so the Planned tab is cleared when you purge old Employee Schedule information.
   

How do I get remaining sick time, vacation, etc. to print on the check stub?

To print the remaining balance of vacation, sick time, etc. that is available you must place a check mark in the Check Stub column of the Benefit Codes screen. Some benefits like paid holidays, etc. typically do not have a balance remaining that a person can use in the future so those would be left unchecked.

From the Procare Home screen go to Configuration > System > Accounting Management > Employee Data > dbl-click Benefit Codes.

How do I record time off without pay?

To record unpaid days off for employees:

1. Create a Pay Code for the leave type such as Unpaid Time Off.
2. Make that Pay Code a Benefit Code with a percentage of 0%. This insures no money will be paid out for this code.
3. Track and post Unpaid Time Off as you would any Employee Sick/Absent Time either directly on the employee time card or through the Batch Post Time Card function.
   Note: Since unpaid time off is something an employee generally would not earn as a benefit you probably don’t need to post Accrued (Earned) Time for this benefit code. Therefore, the “Balance” tab on the Employee Benefits screen would show as a negative balance, because the time is used but never earned.

How do I zero out benefit hours so they do not carry forward from one year to the next?

If you have a “use it or lose it” policy regarding benefit hours like vacation or sick time you may wish to zero out any unused hours that expire at the end of the year.

1. To zero out benefit hours go to the Earned tab on the Employee Benefits screen.
2. Enter the Date as Dec. 31st of last year.
3. Enter the Hours as a negative amount. For example, if they had 10 unused hours enter it as -10.
4. Use the appropriate Pay Code (Benefit Code), like “Vacation”, and a Comment like “Unused Hours Expired”.