Flexitime account

Time recording with flexitime accounts has been available in CrewBrain for some time now. With the new logic for time recording, we now offer an optimized variant that solves the following problems of the previous time recording:

• More flexible options for surcharges (in future: salary components)

• Break deduction for shifts over midnight

• Evaluation options for rest periods and other time violations

This payroll type generally applies to all permanent employees, mini-jobbers, working students, etc. As a rule, this includes all those who are bound to their company by a contract.

Base data

The configuration of the new logic for time recording with flexitime account is largely identical to the previous one. If the new logic is selected in the payroll period, the following information must first be entered:

• Valid from (with time limit if applicable)

• Working days (usually Monday to Friday, also for part-time employees - see working hours)

• Salary plus ancillary wage costs (for calculation in the statistics)
  • A distinction can be made between a fixed and a variable salary. In Germany, only the fixed salary is generally relevant.
  • You have the option of defining a maximum amount. This can be relevant for €520 employees, for example. During job planning, this amount is checked so that it is already clear in the request dialog when the amount for a month has been reached and the employee should no longer be requested or booked.

• Working time (hours per day, week or month)
  • A weekly working time should be calculated down to a 5-day week and stored per day.
  • If the “per week” option is used, the target time is always deducted on Sundays. Please note that the start of work must be a Monday or alternatively a start value must be used.
  • A classic 40-hour week should always be stored with “8 hours per day”. If the hours differ for individual days, the days can be defined individually.

• Working time for vacation, sick days and public holidays
  • If the working time is calculated per day, this value can be left at 0
  • In the case of monthly working hours, the contractually defined value for vacation days must be entered here
  • If the employee does not receive compensation for public holidays (e.g.because this is excluded by a collective agreement), this can also be entered here. The system can then, for example, only calculate the public holiday bonuses instead of the public holiday compensation.

Flex time

There are three options for the flexitime account:

• Update flextime from previous period (default)

• Start time for flexitime (required if a start value is to be transferred from a previous system)

• Do not create a flextime account

If changes are to be made to the time account at a later date (e.g. for payments or similar), this can be entered directly via the “Time recording” menu item as an overtime payment. In these cases, no changes need to be made to the statement period. The start value for the flexitime account should therefore only be set once and then permanently updated.

Breaks

Here you can specify if and how long a break must be taken after a certain working time. If you check “Automatically deduct breaks,” these breaks will automatically be deducted from the working time, even if they are not recorded by the employee. Since automatically deducted breaks cannot be assigned to a specific period, they cannot be considered for salary components that relate to a specific period.

In general, the automatic break deduction is only a support tool to comply with legal break requirements. The employee should ideally actively clock in and out for their breaks.

The default setting here is the legal regulation according to §4 of the German Working Hours Act (ArbZG). Please note that different regulations may apply for other countries.

Capping

If you set a cap, such as 10 working hours per day, any hours worked beyond this will not be credited to the flextime account.

If you have agreed with your employee that a certain number of overtime hours are compensated with the salary, these can be automatically deducted here at the end of the month. This can be done on a flextime or monthly basis. In both cases, if the employee has fewer overtime hours, the cap will be set to a maximum of 0; if they have more overtime hours, they will be reduced by the amount specified here.

With the capping to a maximum number of hours per month, you can cap your employees' flextime balance to a fixed value at the end of the month. If the employee's balance is lower than the value specified here, no capping will take place.

Target Days

If an employee is contractually required to work a certain number of days per month, this can be recorded here. Target days function like target hours, essentially as a second flextime account.

In parallel with the target and actual hours, working days can also be counted here based on work, travel, and off days and the billing factor for employees. If this feature is not to be used, the value can be left at 0.

If you have made changes to the billing for an employee, select “Carry forward target days from the previous period.” For new employees, enter a new starting value for the target days.

Surcharges

If you pay surcharges, you can determine the amount of the surcharge here, which will then be considered by the system in the payroll.

If you pay surcharges for night work, you can define the designated period for this here. This will then be displayed separately in the time tracking.

You can also specify here how the surcharges should be paid: as a “tax-free surcharge” or as a “credit to the flextime account.”

Time Tracking

Here you can decide how employees can record their time: manually or via time clock. For contractors, time tracking is only possible manually.

Vacation

Specify here how many days of vacation the employee has per year, whether it should be calculated based on the calendar year or employment year, and when it may expire. For a new employee, create a new vacation account. If you have made changes to the payroll for an employee, you can enter a starting value here, which is based on the remaining vacation days.

Availability

If your employees should only be available for inquiries during specific periods, you can set them here. Employees can then only be requested for events that fall within the specified availability periods.