Permanent positions - Change, edit, or delete

There are two types of permanent positions: primary and additional. The primary position is located at the top of the Employment Type tab, with additional positions listed below it. 

In the below image, the Waiter position is the primary position, while the Duty Manager position is an additional position.

There are a few key things to understand about the position types, which will help when managing them. 
 

Primary position

Every permanent employee is required to have a primary position, and there can be only one active primary position at a time. The primary position is the main position for the employee and serves several purposes that additional positions do not, including:

• Leave applications use the hours set in the work pattern as a default 
• Redeemed leave is paid (excluding loadings) based on the pay rate from the primary position
• The primary position is associated with an operation and a cost code, which is used for financial reporting (payroll tax & leave)
• Primary positions can only commence at the start of a pay period
   

Additional positions

There is no limit to the number of additional positions an employee can have. These are typically used for higher-level duties or other roles that the employee will perform beyond their normal responsibilities. Some things to note:

• Additional positions can have different rates from the primary position. This allows the employee to be paid more for specific work they do
• Additional positions can commence at any time during a pay period

An employee's work pattern is a key part of any permanent or salaried employee's position. When applying a work pattern to an employee, ensure that the employee's regular hours are accurately reflected here.

An employee's work pattern is used in the following ways:

• For salaried employees, it provides a daily breakdown of how they are to be paid and reports
  
    Hot tip: When shift times are entered, it can also apply shift penalties, loadings or overtime depending on your Award's pay rules.
• Provides a default number of hours when an employee submits a leave application
• Use to predict leave balances for future-dated leave applications & liability reporting shift times entered, penalty rate loading calculations
• Work patterns can be set for up to 8 weeks, and then they repeat automatically until you update them. You can also schedule changes in advance

  For more information on salaried positions, please refer to our salaried positions article here. 

We will explore work patterns applicable to permanent employees in more detail below.
 

Multi-week work patterns

Multi-week work patterns allow you to set a recurring schedule for employees over a period of several weeks, providing flexibility and ensuring that work hours are consistently allocated according to business needs. This feature is particularly beneficial for permanent employees with varying workloads, as it simplifies the management of their shifts over time.

Key features of multi-week work patterns include:

• Customisable schedules - You can define specific work patterns for each week, allowing for variations in hours and weekly rotations.
• Automatic recurrence - Once a multi-week pattern is established, it automatically repeats after the designated period, reducing the need for manual scheduling each week.
• Advanced scheduling - Multi-week patterns can be set in advance, ensuring that employees are aware of their schedules well ahead of time. This can help with planning and work-life balance.
• Prediction of Leave balances - These patterns are utilised to predict employee leave balances, making it easier to manage time off requests effectively.
• Accurate reporting - Implementing a structured multi-week work pattern aids in payroll reporting and compliance, as the hours worked and patterns established are clearly documented.

The image below is a common example of a multi-week work pattern. This employee works a 9-day fortnight, with 5 days in the first week and 4 in the second. This pattern will repeat until a change is scheduled.

Scheduling upcoming work pattern changes

Scheduling upcoming changes to employees’ work patterns is an important aspect of effectively managing your permanent employees.

By scheduling upcoming changes, admins can easily set future dates to replace an employee's current work pattern with a new one. This approach is beneficial because it allows you to thoughtfully plan and implement new work patterns whenever changes arise without having to change the employee's position. Once applied, select Next to continue. 

  Please follow along to see how to schedule an upcoming work pattern change.

Sometimes, you may need to edit an employee's existing position/s. This could be due to a mistake in their pay rate, cost code, or to update and add additional Locations.

  Hot tip: If you'd like to apply additional locations to your employee positions in bulk, please take a look at our Locations guide for instructions.

To edit an existing position:

1. On the Employee Profile, select Employee Card > Employment Type. This is where you can see the employee's positions, pay rates, and any entitlements. 
2. Select the pencil icon to edit the existing position.

3. Edit the position details to suit your requirements. You will be able to update the following:

   • Locations - The locations set on the position directly impact which rosters an employee can work on. You can read more about Locations and their uses here. 
   • Custom Position Title - This title can be used instead of the position name and is displayed to the employee on their payslip. 
   • Use Operation Rates Book - With this toggle enabled, the position will use the rates applied in the rates book for the operation the position is rostered at. 
   • Salary (annually or hourly) - The base rate for the position (excluding superannuation). Select & edit either the hourly rate or the annual salary. Either selection will impact both. You are unable to edit this value below the award rate. 
   • Cost Code/Purchase Order - Used for costing and invoicing purposes. You can read more about cost codes here. 
   • Position Start Date - The date the position is effective from. This impacts when an employee can be rostered for this position. Depending on what you're changing in the position, you may need to set this date for when you'd like the changes to take effect. However, this date can only be a period start date if the employee hasn't been paid from this position.
   • Position End Date - The date the position ends. This field is useful when setting up future changes in positions (e.g. ending a junior 16-year position & starting a junior 17-year position the next day). 

     Please note: You may only add a position end date to an additional position for permanent employees. If an employee is ending a position and has no future position set, you may actually prefer to terminate them and archive their profile.

   

4. To continue, select Next.
   • If editing an additional position, skip ahead to step 7.
   • If editing a primary position, this will take you to the Work Pattern tab. 

5. Edit the details on the Work Pattern tab to your requirements, or schedule a work pattern change if the employee's work pattern will be changing in the future. The work pattern is used as the default hours for leave applications and to calculate the hours paid to salaried employees.

   

6. Edit the position rules for managing hours, leave and public holidays. You will be able to edit the following: 
   
   Work and leave settings:

   • Salary basis - With this option enabled, the employee will have their payslip generated based on the work pattern hours. Rostered or clocked hours are not relevant to the payslip generation in this case. You can read more about salaried positions here.
   • Approved shift basis - With this option enabled, the employee will be paid based on their hours worked, with pay calculated according to their approved shifts. 
   • Require timesheet submission - This option is only available when the Salary basis option is enabled. With this option enabled, draft payslips will not be generated automatically. Instead, a timesheet will be available for the employee to submit via their employee app each pay cycle. 
   • Use salaried payslip template - This setting automatically activates when you enable the Salary basis option and will alter how the view of payslip PDF. With this setting turned on, there will be 2 changes:
     • It will display the annual salary for the employee's active primary position at the top left of the PDF
     • The line item breakdown will no longer include the hours worked or the rate, just their pay period amount (leave hours and rate will still show as normal)

   Public holiday settings:

   • Pay ordinary rates on public holiday hours worked - With this option enabled, the employee will not receive public holiday rates and will be paid their base rate when working on public holidays.

   • Deduct leave balance is leave falls on a public holiday - With this option enabled, the employee's leave balance will be deducted when the leave application falls on a public holiday.

     

7. Select Next to continue, which will take you to the Review stage.

   

8. If there are no issues, select Confirm, and the position will be updated. Please read the section 'Managing issues on the position review menu' below for information on how to handle any issues at the Review stage. 

There are many cases where you may need to change an employee's position. Some common examples include:

• Changing to the relevant junior position (e.g. from 16 yrs to 17 yrs)
• Changing levels for the same position (e.g. from F&B attendant level 1 to F&B attendant level 2)
• Changing roles or receiving a promotion (e.g. from F&B attendant level 3 to F&B Supervisor)

  Hot tip: If you're changing a few details but the position is remaining the same, editing the existing position will be the easiest process. This includes increasing rates of pay for the same role. Please refer to the above section for details on editing an existing position. 

The process for changing positions varies slightly depending on whether you're changing a primary or additional position. We will look at both options below. 
 

To change primary positions:

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile and select Employee Card > Employment Type. 
2. Select 'Add New Position' and fill in the details of the new position. Refer to this article for more detailed information about adding new positions.
   • If there are shifts or unprocessed timesheets from the original position dated after the new position starts, these can be actioned on the position review menu. Refer to the 'Managing issues on the position review menu' section below for more information. 
3. After the new position has been added, the existing primary position will be handled automatically for you.
   • If the position start date of the new position is in the future, the existing position will now have an end date. The positions will automatically swap over on the correct date.
   • If the position start date of the new position is in the past, the existing position will be gone. An end date is applied to it, but since it's in the past, only the new position will be visible on the profile. 

  Hot tip: You can set up new positions well in advance. This can be useful if your employees increase their position levels based on time. 
 

To change additional positions:

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile and select Employee Card > Employment Type. 
2. Select 'Add Additional Position' and fill in the details of the new position. Refer to this article for more detailed information about adding new positions.
3. After the new position has been added, you can edit your existing additional position by selecting the pencil icon. 
4. Add a Position End Date.
   
     Hot tip: The date of this should be the day before the Position Start Date of your new position. 
5. To continue, select Next.
6. If there are shifts or unprocessed timesheets after the position end date, these can be actioned on the position review menu. Refer to the 'Managing issues on the position review menu' section below for more information. 

There are cases where you may want to change an employee's additional position to the primary position. Some common examples include:

• Receiving a promotion to one of the higher duties assigned on the profile (e.g. from F&B attendant level 3 to F&B Supervisor)
• Changing roles within the business (e.g. from Front of House supervisor to Back of House supervisor)

The best way to handle this will be to treat it like starting any new position. The main difference in this situation is what you do with the existing primary position. Should it be removed, or should it now be an additional position?

To make an additional position, the new primary position:

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile and select Employee Card > Employment Type. 
2. Select 'Add New Position' and fill in the details of the new position. Refer to this article for more detailed information about adding new positions.
   • On the review menu, you will have the option to end the primary position entirely or to have it automatically created again as an additional position. Enable the toggle to swap the primary position with the additional position. With the toggle disabled, the primary position will simply be replaced. 
     
     
      
   • If there are shifts or unprocessed timesheets from the original position dated after the new position starts, these can be actioned on the position review menu. Refer to the 'Managing issues on the position review menu' section below for more information. 
3. After the new position has been added, the existing primary position will be handled automatically for you.
   • If the position start date of the new position is in the future, the existing position will now have an end date. The positions will automatically swap over on the correct date. 
   • If the position start date of the new position is in the past, the existing position will be gone. An end date is applied to it, but since it's in the past, only the new position will be visible on the profile. 

If need be, positions can be deleted from the profile. The only instance where a position should be deleted (instead of ended via an end date) is if it was assigned in error and hasn't been paid. 

  Please note: If a position has been paid, you are unable to delete it. Instead, end the position and create a new one. 

To delete a position:

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile and select Employee Card > Employment Type. 
2. Select the bin icon to delete the position. 
3. Address any issues on the review menu and select Delete. Refer to the 'Managing issues at the review stage' section below for more information if necessary. 

After entering or editing position details (or deleting a position), you'll come to the position review menu. This page will have you take action on any items that need updating based on the changes you've made to your position.

The items you may need to action include:

• Rostered shifts - Shifts that are rostered after the end date of the existing position.
• Timesheets - Timesheets associated with the existing position that are dated after the end date.
• Leave applications - Leave applications that are pending or approved (but not processed) after the end date.
• Primary position - If the new primary position is an existing additional position, you can choose to keep the original primary position active as an additional position.

We will go through each of these items below. 
 

Shifts

The available Actions for rostered shifts include:

• Delete - Deletes the shifts from the Roster. Available in all circumstances. 
• Keep shift assigned to the current position group and update - This will update the rostered shift to the employee's new position. Available when editing an existing position (and selecting a new start date) or when swapping/deleting the position (if the new position is used in the same position group). 
• Select a new position and update shifts - This will update the rostered shifts to the selected position. Available if position groups are not used and the employee has another position. 
• Remove employee and leave the shift unfilled - The employee will be removed from their upcoming shifts, which will remain on the roster. The shifts can then be assigned to someone else from the roster menu. Available in all circumstances.

Timesheets

The available Actions for existing unprocessed timesheets include:

• Delete - Deletes the timesheet. Available in all circumstances.
• Select a new position to update timesheet - The selected position will replace the existing one for the unprocessed timesheets. The selected position details, including the rate of pay, will be used.

Leave applications

There are two options for handling unprocessed leave applications:

• Continue - The leave application will be updated with the new position details.
• Review - This will take you to the edit menu for this leave application, where the details can be changed if required. 

Primary position

There are two options for handling the existing primary position:

• Toggle off - The existing primary position will end and be replaced by the newly created position.
• Toggle on - The existing primary position will be added as an additional position. 

For your reporting needs, there are a few options available to you that you can refer to to see your position changes. These options are:

  Permission Reminder: 'View Employee Pay Rates' and 'View Financial Report Centre' permissions are required for the following reports. 
 

• Approve People Export
  • If you're looking for a quick way to create a list of all permanent employees, look no further than your Approve People menu. 
  • From Approved People, you can use the Employment Type filter to create a list of all salaried/ monthly employees in your platform. 
  • Once filtered, you can use Bulk Actions > Export Filtered to export any relevant employee details.

• Position Changes Report
  • This report is a useful tool for tracking history and auditing, as it shows important details for each new position assigned to multiple employees.
  • Key details this report displays are:
    • Duration
    • Position Type
    • Classification and Award
    • Rate of Pay

• Employment History
  • The Employment History feature lets you track all position changes and updates made to an employee's position, enabling you to review past updates easily from the Employee Card.
  • This is useful when you need to make a quick change to an employee's position or view for which admin user has made a previous change. 

You may want to assign multiple positions to your employees. Some examples of when you may want to do this include:

• Employees working different roles (e.g. Waiter, Runner, Bar)
• Employees working higher duties (e.g. F&B attendant but filling in as a F&B Supervisor)

For permanent employees with multiple positions, all positions (except the primary) should be added as additional positions.

  Please note: If you try to create multiple primary positions, the existing one will be replaced. 

To create additional positions:

1. Navigate to the Employee Profile and select Employee Card > Employment Type. 
2. Select 'Add Additional Position' and fill in the details of the new position.

  For more detailed information on adding new positions to an employee, please refer to our Add a new position to an employee article here.