Employee pay rates may change periodically. Playground allows you to schedule past or future pay rate changes. If an employee works a set number of hours per week, you can even set default hours to populate in payroll.
Pay Types
Playground offers two employee pay types: hourly and salary.
Hourly Pay | Employees are paid a set dollar amount per hour worked. |
Salary Pay | Employees are designated a yearly salary and are paid in accordance with their pay schedule. |
Hourly Pay
Employees are paid a set dollar amount per hour worked. Hours can be tracked in Playground using the staff clock in/out feature. You can also add hours worked during the payroll approval process. If employees are paid for a set number of hours per week, you can set a default number of hours to populate in payroll.
Salary Pay
Salaried employees are designated a yearly salary. The total pay to employees will be calculated based on the pay schedule you use. See the table below for the formulas used to calculate pay for each pay frequency.
Pay Frequency | Pay Formula |
Weekly | = salary ÷ 52 |
Bi-Weekly | = salary ÷ 26 |
Semi-monthly | = salary ÷ 24 |
Monthly | = salary ÷ 12 |
Default Hours
You can set custom default hours per pay period for salaried employees. This is especially useful for part-time salaried employees who work fewer hours but are paid a fixed salary.
When default hours are set, the employee’s hours and pay automatically appear on the Review Employee Pay tab during the payroll approval flow. This reduces the amount of manual entry required each pay period and helps ensure payroll is processed accurately and consistently.
Set Default Hours
From the Admin Dashboard, click My School and then Staff.
Click the name of the staff member that you want to edit, then click Settings.
From the settings tab, click + Add Pay Rate or click Edit on an existing pay rate.
Type in the default hours per pay period and then click save.
🚨 Default hours are set per pay period. If you change the company pay frequency, you must update all default hours to match the new pay period.
For example, if the pay frequency changes from weekly to bi-weekly, the default hours should be adjusted to reflect the two-week pay period.
Here are some important things to keep in mind when using default hours:
Rates: Default hours will impact the rate that is shown on the employee's pay stubs.
Salaried employees without default hours will see a rate that is equal to salary/2080 hours.
Salaried employees with default hours will see a rate that is equal to salary/default hours per year.
PTO: Paid time-off that is tracked on the staff schedule will be paid out at the default hour rate.
For example:
Salary: $40,000
Default hours: 25 hours per week
Custom default hour rate: $40,000/(25*52) = $30.77/hour
PTO tracked on the calendar will be paid out at the rate of $30.77/hour
💡 If an employee with default hours tracks time in Playground, the default hours will override the tracked hours, and their total earnings will only reflect the default hours.
Create a New Employee Pay Rate
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to My School and then click Staff.
Click the staff member whose pay rate you want to add.
From the staff member's profile, click the Settings tab.
Click the blue Add Pay Rate button.
Enter the pay rate, pay type, effective date, and default hours.
If you are not using default hours, enter '"0."
Click the blue Save button to save the new rate.
💡 If the effective date is mid-pay period, both rates will show in the related payroll.
Edit Existing Pay Rate
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to My School and then click Staff.
Click the staff member whose pay rate you want to edit.
From the staff member's profile, click the Settings tab.
Click the blue Edit button next to the most recent pay rate.
The Staff Hourly Rates window will open. Update the rate, pay type, effective date, and/or default hours.
Click the blue Save button.
🚨 Editing an employee's historical pay rate will not change the amounts they have already been paid. The pay rate will reflect on the current pay period or as of the effective date.
Delete Existing Pay Rate
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to My School and then click Staff.
Click the staff member whose pay rate you want to delete.
From the staff member's profile, click the Settings tab.
Click the three dots next to the pay rate and then click Delete.