Please note: The following feature is available as part of Birdie’s Starter, Core, Advanced and Plus packages (Also known as Care Management, Rostering & Finance, Premium, Entry and Essentials) Please get in touch if interested in more information on this feature!
To run your payroll at the end of the pay period and to ensure your Care Professionals are getting paid, you will need to create pay rates and assign them to your Care Professionals before they start completing visits.
You must set up pay rates in the Birdie Platform before your Care Professionals check into their scheduled visits, otherwise, it will not calculate their pay at the end of the month (or payroll period).
You will be able to accommodate a variety of different rates, including single pay rates, banded pay rates and service type rates, in this article we will cover single and banded rates, if you want more information on service type rates please read this article- how to set up rates by service type.
How to create a Pay rate
Click on the Finance tab and then the Pay rates tab.
To create a new pay rate click on the Pay rates tab, then click on the green New pay rate button in the top right-hand corner.
Once you click this button you will see a pop-up card where you can add the details of the pay rate. You can create different pay rate cards for different types of carers, for example, a team leader may be paid more per hour than a junior carer.
Select from the headings below for more information on how to add a single, banded or service type rate.
Creating a single pay rate
Once you've opened up a new pay rate card, you can then begin to add rates.
If you would like to create a single pay rate, first give the rate a name, this will help you identify the pay rate when it comes to assigning it to a Care Professional.
Day type
Now click on the Add rate button. From here, select the Day type - you will see a drop-down menu, that allows you to select from:
Weekend - Select this if the rate is to apply on weekends (i.e. Saturday and Sunday)
Weekday - Select this if the rate is to apply on weekdays (i.e. Monday - Friday)
Custom - Select this if you want the rate to apply on specific days of the week (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday).
All- select this if the rate applies all the time
Holiday - If you do not use multipliers for bank holidays, you can add a specific holiday rate to your pay and charge cards. Read more on holiday rates here (Important: if you pay care professionals a specific, enhanced rate on bank holidays, add that rate FIRST before carrying on and adding rates for regular days like weekdays and weekends).
Please note: If you use Group Dates please read the article How to create 'Date Groups' for enhanced holiday rates
2. When will the rate apply?
Select whether this rate applies Always (e.g. 24 hours of the day) or for a specific Time of day. You can then input the times this rate covers (e.g. 9 am-7 pm).
3. Rate Type
Then select the rate type. You will be able to select Single, Fixed, Banded. In this scenario, we are explaining Single rates. The Single rate can be used if you charge an hourly rate for your care.
Add the rate you will charge for each hour of care delivered in the Hourly rate box below, e.g. £11.95 for instance.
Then click Add to save your new rate.
You can repeat the above process to create as many rates as needed on this one pay rate card. You should aim to input the rate you will pay Care Professionals for each hour of care delivered, for each day of the week.
4. Assign to a Care Professional
Once you're happy with your rate, press Save and assign caregivers.
You will then be taken to a list of care professionals, allowing you to select who should have this pay rate card assigned.
Use the tick boxes to the left of the Care Professionals to select who should have this pay rate assigned, you can bulk select by ticking the box next to Caregivers. When you are done click the Save button.
Don't forget, you will need to assign your pay rates to Care Professionals before they start checking into scheduled visits on Birdie.
Creating time-banded rates
If you need to pay your Care Professionals using banded rates, you can use our Banded Rates option. You can create time-banded rates that will be associated with visit length (e.g. 15, 30, 45, 60 minutes and so on.)
As before, you will first select the 'Day type' and then select when the rate Applies. When you go to select rate type, you can select Banded rate by clicking on the Rate drop-down menu.
You will then be able to create time bands by clicking on Add band. You will see this gives you the option to add a rate for visits of a certain length. You have the flexibility to insert whatever band of time necessary for your agency - be it 10, 15 minutes or other.
You can type in the time needed for each time band, 24 hours is the maximum banded rate you can create.
Click on 'Add band' again to create a separate time-banded rate. You can continue to add time bands as appropriate for your agency.
Make sure to check that you are paying the correct rate for the visit times listed. The band descriptions are listed to the right of each time band you have added to help you.
Here is an example of visit data below.
Again, you should aim to input a rate for each hour of care delivered, for each day of the week (as outlined below).
Banded rates for calls with a duration greater than your highest band
Your highest banded rate will apply for all visits lasting up to that time length (e.g. if your highest band is 60 minutes, the highest banded rate will apply for all visits lasting up to 60 minutes.)
If you pay Care Professionals for the time spent above that band, then you will need to create an additional Single hourly rate. The Platform will then apply this rate to all visits longer than your highest time band on a pro-rated basis.
Once you're happy with the rates, press Save.
Additional information about Banded rates and general rates set up:
If a visit goes beyond the set time band (i.e. exceeds 60 minutes, for example) but you do not have a single hourly default rate the system will charge nothing until you fix the rate card. We recommend you set a single default hourly rate if you have visits that will occur above that highest time-band.
Rates are evaluated and applied from the top down, meaning the order you enter your banded rates is important. You should enter your rates from the lowest to the highest band. (i.e. 45-minute band should be entered before the 60-minute band).
Additionally, if you use a mix of banded and hourly rates and they are set for the same time frame the order in which you input them will matter. The rates will be evaluated from the top down. Meaning if you have a banded rate and an hourly rate set to apply for the same timeframe, the one that is listed first will take priority in the system.
Step-by-step guide
You may find the below pay rates flowchart helpful, click here to download the PDF!
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