Pay Structure
A technician's pay depends on three settings that work together. If one is missing when a technician clocks out, the job pays $0.00 until it is fixed.
| Setting | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Scope Pay Type | Settings, on each scope of work | Decides how a job is paid |
| Technician pay settings | The technician's Pay Structure section | Holds the technician's rates |
| Scope pay grid | The technician's Pay Structure section | Sets rates for specific scopes, by role on the job |
Payroll access is required to see these screens.
Scope pay types
Each scope of work has a Pay Type under Pay Settings. It sets the formula used for jobs on that scope.
| Pay Type | How the job is paid |
|---|---|
| Hourly | The job clock's Base Pay x the hours the technician worked. Base Pay starts as the technician's Solo, Captain or Teammate pay for that scope, or the Trainee Hourly Wage for trainees. |
| Allowed Hours | Hourly rate x the job's allowed hours, however long the job took. This protects technicians from overruns. |
| Team Fee Split | The job's base fee x the technician's split percentage |
| Team Hourly | The job clock's Base Pay x job hours. Base Pay starts as the technician's rate for that scope and role (from the pay grid), or the Trainee Hourly Wage for trainees. |
Example: on a two-person team, a technician's Captain pay for an Hourly scope is $20. A 3.5-hour job pays $70. To pay one job differently, open the job clock, click Edit, change Base Pay, and click Save.
Travel pay applies to every pay type. Clocked time that wasn't job time (drive and office time) is paid as travel pay, whichever pay type the job's scope uses. The rate is the Travel Pay on the technician's pay grid for that scope, per hour. A day with several scopes pays the highest rate, and trainees get the Trainee Hourly Wage.
Trainee pay
Trainees are paid the Trainee Hourly Wage x their hours on the job, on every scope type, instead of their own rates or the pay grid rate. Their travel time between jobs is paid at the same wage. To change what trainees earn, go to Payroll, click the gear icon, and change Trainee Hourly Wage under Wages & Rates. See Payroll Options. The scope's Trainee Position Factor only controls how much a trainee's time counts toward job time.
A technician is paid as a trainee when their Team Position on the job is Trainee. To move someone to regular pay, change their position on the team from Trainee to Captain or Teammate on the Teams tab. See Teams Tab. Jobs already clocked keep the Trainee position. To fix one, an Administrator or Group Administrator can open the job clock, change Team Position, and save. See Editing Time Entries.
Add a pay structure to a technician
- Go to Office > Technicians and open the technician.
- In the left navigation, select Pay > Pay Structure.
- On the Pay Rates card, click the pencil icon. The Edit Technician drawer opens at the pay section.
- Enter the Hourly Rate, and Min Hourly Rate / Max Hourly Rate if you use them. For a salaried technician, enter the Annual Salary. Tick Hourly Employee for technicians paid by clock hours. There is no Pay Type to choose: each job is paid by the Pay Type on its scope of work.
- Save.
Any Annual Salary above $0 marks the technician as salaried: every job timesheet pays $0.00 and Pulse doesn't add salary pay to payroll on its own. See Edit Technician Drawer.
Min Hourly Rate is the technician's own minimum wage. Payroll pays at least the higher of this value and your company minimum wage.
Why can't I choose Allowed Hours for a technician?
Allowed Hours is a pay type for scopes of work. Give the technician an Hourly Rate; the scope's Pay Type does the rest.
Set pay when adding a new technician
Payroll Admins set it on the Employment & Pay step of Add Technician:
- Enter the Hourly Rate (and Min/Max), or the Annual Salary for a salaried technician.
- Under Pay Per Scope of Work, add each scope and enter its rates.
- Click Add Technician. The rates show on the Pay Structure section.
Add scope-specific rates (pay grid)
Use the pay grid when a technician should earn a different rate for certain scopes, such as Deep Clean, or for a role on the job.
- On the same Pay Structure section, find the pay grid card.
- Click Add Pay and choose the Scope of Work.
- Enter Solo Pay, Captain Pay, Teammate Pay and Travel Pay, then save.
Solo, Captain and Teammate Pay are dollars on hourly scopes and percentages on fee-split scopes. Travel Pay is always dollars per hour. To change many at once, use Bulk Edit. See Technician Pay and Performance.
Pay shows $0.00 on a job or time clock
Jobs on Allowed Hours scopes, and event clocks, pay the technician's Hourly Rate x hours. Jobs on Hourly and Team Hourly scopes pay the clock's Base Pay x hours. A technician with an Annual Salary gets $0.00 on every job, by design. A technician with no Hourly Rate gets $0.00 on Allowed Hours clocks and event clocks.
Check these in order:
- Clock-outs. Every technician on the job needs a clock-out. See Job Clocks.
- Scope Pay Type. The scope needs a Pay Type, not "- Select -".
- Technician pay settings. The technician needs an Hourly Rate for Allowed Hours scopes and for events.
- Pay grid. On Hourly and Team Hourly scopes, the technician needs Solo, Captain or Teammate pay for that scope, or the clock needs a Base Pay.
- Recalculate. Open the job clock, click Edit, and click Save without changes.
To stop paying a technician as salaried, clear Annual Salary and save. Any salary above $0 makes job pay $0.00.