Payroll Help

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Editing Employee Pay Information

In this article you can learn about these employee pay fields:

Employee pay fields: Pay Schedule
Employee pay fields: Pay Type
Additional Options for All Employees
Statutory Employee (W-2)
Company Retirement Plan (W-2)
Employee Status

To update an employee’s information, follow these steps:

Payroll > Employees > Employee List.

  1. Click the employee’s name.
  2. Select the Pay Info tab.

Here is a description of each field. Click the “Edit” link to change any of these fields.

Pay Schedules

The employee’s current pay schedule will display automatically. If needed, you can:

  • You can assign a new pay schedule if you have more than one set up
    or
  • Add a new pay schedule by clicking +Add New Pay Schedule.
    • Complete the setup in Settings > Payroll Settings > Pay Schedules. You will need to complete the new pay schedule setup by going to Settings > Payroll Settings > Pay Schedules. To learn more, read, “How to add a new pay schedule.“

Pay Type

To change the employee’s pay type (e.g., from Hourly to Salary or vice versa), select the new pay type from the drop-down menu. Pay types include Hourly, Salary, and Salary Non-Exempt. For more details, see the article, “Employee Pay Types.”

Entering pay rates will depend on whether the employee is Hourly or Salary/Salary Non-Exempt.

For hourly employees:

  • Pay Rate:  Enter the hourly pay rate (for example, 14.75).
  • Role: (Optional) If the employee has more than one pay rate, enter a role for each rate. Roles will appear when processing payroll and in reports. Suggested roles will populate as you start typing.
  • Add Another Role: You can assign up to five different pay rates and roles per employee. If the employee uses timecards, the primary rate will display first.
  • Always Display on Payroll Runs: Choose “Yes” if you want the additional role to always display in the payroll process. Otherwise, select “No,” and you can still access it by toggling “Show all Pay Types” during payroll.
  • Use the Blended Overtime Calculation:  The first time you add an additional rate for an employee, you will see a box asking if you want to use the blended overtime calculation. Most businesses should check this box to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act rules.
    • This setting applies to all employees and can be changed later under Settings > Hours & Money Types. Please consult a lawyer or accountant before unchecking this setting. For more details about blended overtime, see the help article “Using Blended Overtime.”

For salary or salary non-exempt employees:

  • Pay Rate Type: Choose to enter either an annual salary or a per-pay-period rate.
  • Salary Entry: If entering a pay period rate, divide the annual salary by the number of pay periods (e.g., 52 for weekly, 26 for biweekly, etc.). The system will calculate the annual amount based on your pay frequency. If you enter an annual salary, the per-pay-period amount will be displayed.

To change employee the pay schedule or pay types after the information has been entered and saved, please read our article, “Changing Employee Pay Frequency or Pay Types.”

  • If you have Patriot Time, the employee’s open time card will be deleted and replaced with a new blank time card when you change their pay frequency or pay type.

Additional Options for all employees:

  • Pay an Additional Repeating Money Type: If you want to add a flat dollar amount to be paid to the employee each payroll, such as a phone or housing allowance, choose a repeating money type and enter the amount to pay.
  • You can view all repeating money types at Settings > Payroll Settings > Hours & Money Types. You can also create a new repeating money type here on the employee’s record, and it will also appear in your company settings. For more details, see How to Add Repeating Dollar Payments in Payroll.

[RELATED ARTICLE: What Does Pay Frequency Mean? | How Often to Pay Your Employees]

W-2 Statutory Employee

Select “Yes” if this is a statutory employee. This means their earnings are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes but exempt from federal tax withholding. The W-2 form will reflect this selection.

W-2 Company Retirement Plan

  • Select “Yes” if the employee was an “active participant” for any part of the year in a company-provided retirement plan such as a 401(k), 401(b), 457, SIMPLE, SEP, etc.
  • If you select “Yes,” the corresponding box on the employee’s W-2 will also be marked. For further instructions on W-2 reporting requirements, see IRS Instructions for Form W-2.

Status

  • The “Active” selection will default to “Yes.” As long as “Yes” is selected, this employee will appear on the payroll worksheet for payroll processing.

If you have Patriot HR, you will have additional statuses you can assign to your employees. Please read, “Using Employee Status History in Patriot HR.”

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