How does TimeForge handle salaried staff?

Handling salaried staff members can be confusing because of the complexities of labor percentages and the variability of salaried wages when analyzed by hour. TimeForge can help you accurately track your labor percentages even if you have salaried employees by simply changing a couple of settings.

Though putting an employee on salary can have major benefits for both your business and for the employee, there are some analytical problems that are related to salaried employees. Labor percentages, which compare the budgeted (scheduled) cost of labor to the actual (clock ins/outs) cost of labor, can be complicated by salaried employees because the amount they get paid each pay period can fluctuate due to vacation time and other changes in work time. Salaried employees can also make daily labor reports complicated because their fluctuating hourly wage is so variable.

You need to decide whether you want to see salaried employees’ hours in your labor percentages. You can choose not to see them at all, or your can modify the way that you see them so they are closer to being accurate.

Consider whether your salaried employees clock in when they are at work.
- (1.) If they do clock in, you can set their pay rate as an hourly rate instead of as a salary. This way, fluctuating hourly wage would always be a set amount, so you wouldn’t need to worry about a surprise high cost in your labor percentages.
-If your salaried employees don’t clock in, you can (2.) set the hourly rate to $0, or (3.) change your option settings to automatically copy a salaried employee’s scheduled hours to his or her attendance.

Below are instructions for all of these options.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: Go to Employees List

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Go to the list of employees by first navigating to the orange Employees tab, then clicking on the gray Employees link.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: Select Employee

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Click on Edit next to the salaried employee for whom you wish to track their pay as hourly.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: View Employee information

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You should be on the Employee tab of the Employee Information page.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly

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Scroll down to the Employee Positions section. The position(s) that the employee works should be checked and his or her pay rate should be set as “annually”. An Hourly Rate will automatically be calculated. Enter the calculated Hourly Rate into the Fixed Rate box. Now, scheduled shifts will always be calculated by the hourly rate input, helping you to better understand and more accurately analyze your labor percentages and attendance. Remember to click Save (at the bottom of the page) when you are finished!

Option 2. Salaried Employees DON’T Clock In, DON’T Track Costs: Set Fixed Rate to $0: Follow the Same Steps as Option 1, but Set Fixed Rate to $0

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If your salaried employees do not clock in and out when they start or end a shift, and you don’t care to track their costs, you can simply set their Fixed Rate to $0.00. Follow the same steps as Option 1, but simply enter 0 into the Fixed Rate box. Remember to click Save (at the bottom of the page) when you are finished!

Option 3. Employees DON’T Clock In: Automatically Copy Scheduled Attendance as Actual Attendance: Go to

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It’s easy to automatically copy an employee’s scheduled hours to his or her attendance hours. Simply navigate to the Employee tab of the Employee Information page (follow the first two steps in Option 1) and check the “Auto-copy schedule for staff member?” box by clicking on it. Now, your salaried employee’s attendance will be automatically filled in so that you can more accurately track your labor percentages. Remember to click Save when you are finished!

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How Do I Archive Reports (Schedules and Payroll)?

In some cases, it’s important to export and save time sheet or schedule information from TimeForge to something like Excel, for a backup, or if you sell your business, or need to further manipulate or crunch the data.

In this lesson, you’ll see how to export payroll information to an Excel spreadsheet, and save it for future use.

Tip: These steps will work for any TimeForge report, including the ability to export data from schedules, absentee reports, or any other TimeForge report.

Go To The Reports Section

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Navigate to the Reports section in either Attendance, Schedules, or Sales (if configured).

Identify the Report to Run

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Identify which report you want to run to export the time sheets, payroll hours, schedule, or other data.

While there are many different reports available in TimeForge, the Payroll Detail reports are going to be most helpful for archiving and filing time cards.

Enter Your Own Dates

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1. Choose “Enter your own Dates” if given the option.

2. Enter the date range (begin date and end date) that you’d like to export

Export to Excel

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1. Make sure to export to Microsoft Excel for easy copy / paste and manipulation if needed at a later date for analysis.

Save the File for Your Records

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Finally, save the resulting spreadsheet on to your computer, or archive the file for use later.

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Can Staff Clock-In at Home or with a Cell Phone?

By default, staff members are able to clock-in from anywhere that has an Internet connection, and this includes work, home, or their mobile Internet on a cell phone. In some circumstances, this is the correct and desired set up. However, for many businesses in the retail and foodservice industries, it is not desirable to provide staff with these abilities.

To support these businesses, TimeForge includes the ability to restrict clock-in and clock-out functionality to specific IP addresses, or physical locations.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Navigate to the Attendance Options in the Attendance tab.

Add IP Addresses

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You can specify one or more IP addresses which employees must be at, for employees to clock in. To add an IP address for employees to clock in:
- You can type your IP address into the text box. If there is more than one allowed IP address, they should be separated by a space, comma, or on separate lines.
- Instead of typing in the IP address, you can click on the Add this computer to allowed IPs button, and TimeForge will add your current IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses.

Remember to click Save Company Settings.

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How Do I View Employees Currently on Break?

Using TimeForge, management staff are able to view real-time break information at any allowed location.

Navigate to the Attendance Tab

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If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can see employees who are currently on break, or have already taken a break for the day.

To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

View Clocked-In Employees

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After clicking the Attendance tab choose View Clocked-In Employees.

Review Breaks and Clocked in Staff Members

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The Clocked-In Employees Page shows employees that are clocked-in or on break, and the hours worked so far during their shift.

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How Do I Edit Breaks (by Date)?

Managing staff member breaks, meal periods, and scheduled lunches can be a headache for even the most experienced management team. TimeForge Attendance makes quick work of taking breaks and managing breaks. Managing breaks is easy with TimeForge!

Navigate to the Attendance Tab

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If you have TimeForge Attendance, you can edit breaks for staff members. To start, navigate to the Attendance tab.

Choose Edit Attendance

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After clicking the Attendance tab choose the Edit Attendance tab.

Choose a Date

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Choose a date that you would like to edit.

Add or Edit the Breaks for Staff Members

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Choose the employee and begin editing attendance entries and breaks.

Remember to click the save button once you finished editing.

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How Do I Edit Breaks (by Employee)?

TimeForge Attendance is a powerful time tracking tool for retail, restaurant, and other service businesses. Part of TimeForge Attendance is the TimeForge Breaks module, which tracks paid, unpaid, optional, and required breaks and meal periods.

From time to time, employees may forget to take a break, or forget to end their break. TimeForge provides easy to use tools to quickly and easily adjust their breaks.

Navigate to the Edit Attendance by Employee Page

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After clicking the Attendance tab navigate to the Edit Attendance by Employee.

Choose the Employee and Date Range

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Choose the employee and desired date range to begin editing breaks or attendance.

Add or Edit Breaks

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After choosing an employee, you can begin editing the attendance and breaks.

Please note: Remember to save your changes when you are done.

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How Do I Configure Attendance (Actual) Break Options?

The TimeForge Breaks module is a comprehensive module inside of TimeForge Attendance that allows management to control employee breaks and meal periods.

You can set the Break Options as needed for your business, providing you significant flexibility in managing and monitoring staff member breaks and meal periods.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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If you have TimeForge Attendance, it is really easy to configure employees breaks. To begin, navigate to the Attendance tab.

Turn On Break Tracking

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To start working with breaks, make sure to turn on break tracking, by setting the option to Yes.

Configure the Break Rules As Needed

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After turning on break tracking, TimeForge will display a number of new configuration options to control meal periods and breaks.

Force Staff to Use Scheduled Breaks

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If set to “No“, staff must take their breaks based on the scheduled break times and the posted schedule. If no breaks are scheduled, staff cannot take a break.

If set to “Yes“, staff are allowed to take a break at any time, regardless of the scheduled break times or types.

Require Breaks Based on Scheduled Order and Type

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If set to “No“, staff must take their breaks based on the order of their scheduled breaks and the posted schedule. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled first, and then a paid/optional break, employees may take either break, in any order.

If set to “Yes“, staff are allowed to take a break at any time, regardless of the scheduled break times or types. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled first, and then a paid/optional break, employees must first take the unpaid/required break, and then they can take the paid/optional break.

Automatically Take Breaks for Staff

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If set to “No“, employees must take their breaks manually (by going to TimeForge and starting their break).

If set to “Yes“, TimeForge will automatically take scheduled breaks for any staff member who forgets to take their scheduled break. For example, if an unpaid/required break is scheduled at 10:00am, but the employee forgets to take the break, TimeForge will automatically take the break for the staff member.

Automatically End Breaks

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If set to “No“, employees must end their breaks manually (by going to TimeForge and ending their break).

If set to “Yes“, TimeForge will automatically end scheduled breaks for any staff member who forgets to end their scheduled break. For example, if an employee starts a 15 minute unpaid/required break at 10:00am, but forgets to end the break at 10:15am, TimeForge will automatically end the break for the staff member.

Allow Breaks Prior to Scheduled Time

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If set to “No“, employees are allowed to take their scheduled breaks at any time, regardless of the scheduled start times for the breaks. For example, if a break is scheduled at 11:15am, the employee can click on “Take a Break” at 11:00am, and will be allowed to start the break at 11:00am.

If set to “Yes“, employees must take their breaks no earlier than the scheduled start time of the break. For example, if a break is scheduled at 11:15am, the employee can not click on “Take a Break” until 11:15am.

Require Break Duration Minimums

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If set to “No“, employees are allowed to take breaks that are of any duration, regardless of the scheduled break times. For example, if an employee ends a scheduled 30 minute break after 20 minutes, they will be allowed to do so.

If set to “Yes“, employees must take a break that is at least as long as the scheduled break time. For example, if an employee attempts to end a scheduled 20 minute break after 15 minutes, TimeForge will not allow them to do so. They must be on break at least 20 minutes, if this option is set.

Convert Unpaid Breaks to Paid Breaks

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If set to “No“, breaks that are unpaid will never convert to any other type of break. For example, if an employee ends a scheduled 15 minute unpaid break, it will continue to remain as an unpaid break.

If set to “Yes“, any break that is unpaid, but ends prior to the scheduled duration, will be converted from an unpaid break to a paid break. For example, if an employee ends an unpaid 30 minute lunch break after 28 minutes, then the 28 minute unpaid lunch break will convert to a 28 minute paid break.

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How Do I Automatically Switch the Clocked In Position for Staff Members?

TimeForge is a powerful, but easy to use, labor management platform for service oriented industries (restaurants, retail, c-stores, grocers, hotels, etc…). Service-oriented businesses often have difficulties managing the complexities of their ever changing and high turnover workforce.

TimeForge can help manage labor by making labor management simple. Staff are commonly scheduled to work doubles, or back-to-back shifts. In some cases, a staff member may transition from one job (or position) to another without ever leaving the business, and may forget to switch their position in the attendance system.

To help ease administration of employees clocking in and out throughout the day, TimeForge can automatically switch staff to the correct position.

For example, a waiter or waitress (server) may work from 10:00am – 3:00pm as a waiter, and then transition to a bartender from 4:00pm – 8:00pm. Or, a lifeguard may work from 8:00am – 1:00pm, then as a swim coach from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Locate the Attendance Options tab inside of TimeForge.

Set the Auto-Switch Position Flag

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Locate the option to automatically switch positions, based on the schedule, for staff members who are clocked in.

Switch this from No to Yes, and then save your options.

TimeForge now will automatically switch jobs / positions for staff members who work back-to-back shifts.

Please note: The staff member needs to clock in to the first scheduled shift to allow TimeForge to transition between positions.

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How Do I Automatically Clock-In Employees Based on the Schedule?

TimeForge is a flexible, but simple to use, workforce management platform for service oriented industries (restaurants, retail, c-stores, grocers, hotels, etc…).

TimeForge can help manage the workforce by making labor management simple and intuitive. Staff often forget to clock in, causing business disruption and a loss of profits when managers are disrupted to enter a time entry for the staff.

To help ease the administrative burden of keeping accurate time clock entries for staff members, TimeForge can automatically clock staff in based on the schedule.

For example, a cook might be scheduled at 9:00am, but forget to clock in. TimeForge can automatically clock them in at 9:00am if they have not already done so.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Locate the Attendance Options tab inside of TimeForge.

Set up Automatic Clock In

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Locate the option to automatically clock employees in, based on their schedule, and switch the value from No (the default) to Yes.

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How Do I Automatically Clock-Out Employees Based on the Schedule?

TimeForge can help manage your labor by making workforce management simple and intuitive for day-to-day tasks. Staff often forget to clock out for the end of their shift, causing business disruption and a loss of profits when managers are disrupted to enter a time entry for the staff.

To help ease the administrative burden of keeping accurate time clock entries for staff members, TimeForge can automatically clock staff out based on the posted schedule.

For example, a bartender might be scheduled to work from 4:00pm – 2:00am, but forget to clock out at the end of the shift. TimeForge can automatically clock them out at 2:00am if they have not already done so.

Navigate to the Attendance Options

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Locate the Attendance Options tab inside of TimeForge.

Turn On the Automatic Clock Out Option

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Locate the option to automatically clock employees out, based on their schedule shift, and switch the value from No (the default) to Yes.

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We are one year into it now, well past being enamored with the newness. We are married to TimeForge. It's as essential to us now as any of our management tools today, and we very happy about that.- Steve @ Hermosa Cyclery
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