Prerequisites
Make sure the following is set up before creating salary surcharges:
Attendance enabled under Settings > Features > Attendance
Attendance tracking enabled per employee under Employee profile > Personal > Enable attendance tracking
Salary stored for all employees who should receive surcharges. Under People > select employee > Compensation > Salary
Public holiday calendar assigned: If surcharges apply to public holidays, the correct calendar must be assigned to the company or office.
Create a salary surcharge
Click (+) Add salary surcharge
Complete the four steps of the setup wizard:
Step 1: General
Field | Description |
Name | A unique name for the rule, e.g. Sunday surcharge |
Description | Optional — internal note |
Step 2: Conditions
Define when the surcharge applies. You can combine one or more conditions:
Condition | When to use |
Public holidays | Surcharge applies on all public holidays according to the company calendar |
Specific day and time | Surcharge applies on specific weekdays and times — select All day for 00:00–24:00 |
Attendance category | Surcharge applies only when time is tracked with a specific attendance category |
Step 3: Surcharge rate
Enter the percentage markup on the employee's hourly rate (100–300%).
The most common surcharge rates in Germany:
Night shift: 125% surcharge rate
Sunday: 150% surcharge rate
Public holidays: 125% surcharge rate
A surcharge rate of 150% means the employee receives an additional 50% of their hourly rate for every hour that meets the condition. For an hourly rate of €20, this equals an extra €10 per hour.
Example:
An employee earning a base wage of €10 receives the following additional payments:
Night shift: an additional €2.50 for every hour worked during a night shift
Sunday: an additional €5 for every hour worked on a Sunday
Public holidays: an additional €2.50 for every hour worked on a public holiday
Important: The basis for this calculation is the hourly rate for surcharges in the employee profile under Compensation > Salary. This rate is automatically calculated from the monthly salary, but can be manually overridden.
For salaried full-time employees, it is recommended to use an hourly rate. The calculation is: average hours worked per month or working hours in the schedule × 52.2 / 12
Example:
An employee earning €24,000 per year working 40 hours per week:
Average monthly hours = (40 × 52.2) / 12 = 174
Hourly rate = (24,000 / 12) / 174 = €11.494
An employee earning €24,000 per year working 20 hours per week:
Average monthly hours = (20 × 52.2) / 12 = 87
Hourly rate = (24,000 / 12) / 87 = €22.89
Step 4: Start date
Field | Description |
Start date | The date from which the rule applies. A date in the past does not affect already confirmed payrolls. |
End date | Optional — only fill in if the rule is time-limited |
Click Add surcharge.
Assign employees
Go to Attendance > Settings > Salary Surcharge Policies
Click the three-dot menu > Manage employees on the desired surcharge
Click (+) Assign employees
Search or filter for employees and click the (+) to add them
Click Assign employees
Employees can also be assigned individually in the employee profile under Compensation > Salary — useful for Finance admins without access to Attendance settings.
If No salary appears next to an employee's name, there is no active salary stored for them. Add a salary under People > select employee > Compensation > Salary. The surcharge takes effect from the salary start date. A yellow warning triangle indicates that attendance tracking is not active for that employee.
Edit a salary surcharge
Go to Attendance > Settings > Salary Surcharge Policies
Click Three-dot menu > Edit surcharge rule
Editable fields: Name, Description, and End date. Conditions and surcharge rate cannot be changed after creation.
If conditions or the rate need to change: set an end date on the existing rule and create a new rule with the updated rate and a new start date. When assigning, you can filter by the old rule name to quickly carry over all affected employees.
Delete a salary surcharge
First remove all employees from the rule under Three-dot menu > Manage employees > Actions > Remove
Go back to the overview and click Three-dot menu > Delete surcharge rule
Deletion cannot be undone. Already confirmed payroll data is not affected.
View surcharge payments in payroll
Surcharge payments appear in payroll in the Salary Surcharge Payments column. Click the value to open the breakdown:
Hourly rate — the stored hourly rate for surcharges from the employee profile
Tracked time — hours that met the conditions of the rule
Additional rate — the amount on top of the base salary per hour
Additional payment — tracked time × additional rate
If an employee triggered multiple surcharge rules in the same period, each rule is listed separately. If two rules apply to the same hour, the rule with the higher percentage takes precedence.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't an employee appear in the assignment list?
The employee may not have attendance tracking enabled or no salary stored. Check both in the employee profile under Personal > Enable attendance tracking and Compensation > Salary.
Can I change the surcharge rate after creation?
No. Set an end date on the existing rule and create a new rule with the updated rate and a new start date.
Why doesn't the hourly rate in the breakdown match the salary?
The rate used is the hourly rate for surcharges in the employee profile — not the simple value derived from the monthly salary. If it was manually overridden, it may differ. Find it under People > Compensation > Salary > Hourly rate for surcharges.
What happens if no salary is stored?
The surcharge only takes effect once a salary with a start date is stored. The system shows No salary next to the employee's name.