Understanding Rate Rules
Learn how TempClock's rate rules system works, including priority matching, scope fields, wildcards, and fallback rates.
Before You Start
What you need to understand rate rules.
Before you start
- Access to the TempClock manage portal (/manage)
- An understanding of your agency's pay rates and charge rates
- At least one client and location set up in the system
Rate rules are one of the most powerful features in TempClock. Take your time to understand how they work — getting them right means payroll and invoicing happen automatically with no manual calculations.
What Are Rate Rules?
Different pay and charge rates for different situations.
In a temp agency, you rarely have a single pay rate for everyone. Different clients pay different amounts. Different roles have different wages. Some locations have premium rates. Rate rules let you set all of this up so that TempClock automatically calculates the right pay and charge amounts for every shift.
A rate rule is a set of conditions that says: “When a worker matches these criteria, use this pay rate and this charge rate.”
What you pay the worker per hour (their wage)
What you bill the client per hour (your invoice rate)
The difference: Charge Rate − Pay Rate = your profit per hour
For example, you might have rules like:
Scope Fields
The four fields that control when a rule applies.
Each rate rule has four scope fields that determine which shifts it applies to. The more fields you fill in, the more specific the rule becomes.
Which client the rule applies to (e.g. Acme Corp, Beta Logistics)
Which specific site within that client (e.g. Birmingham Warehouse)
Which type of worker (e.g. Forklift Driver, Picker/Packer)
An optional cost centre code used for billing and accounting
You do not have to fill in every scope field. Leaving a field blank makes it a wildcard — it matches anything. We will cover this in more detail below.
The Priority System
When multiple rules match, the most specific one wins.
It is perfectly normal to have multiple rate rules that could apply to the same shift. When this happens, TempClock uses a priority system to decide which rule to use. The rule is simple: the most specific rule wins.
Priority is determined by how many scope fields are filled in:
Here is a practical example. Imagine you have these three rules:
If a forklift driver works at Acme Corp's Birmingham Warehouse, Rule C applies because it is the most specific match. If a picker/packer works at the same location, Rule B applies (Rule C does not match because the role is wrong). If someone works at Acme Corp's Manchester site, only Rule A matches.
Think of it like a funnel. Start with broad rules that cover your defaults, then add more specific rules for special cases. The system will always pick the best match.
Wildcards (Blank Fields)
How blank scope fields match everything.
If you leave a scope field blank, it acts as a wildcard and matches anything. This is how you create broad rules that apply to many situations.
Matches every shift in the system (a true default rule)
Matches all shifts for that client, regardless of location, role, or cost code
Matches that role at any of that client's locations
Only matches shifts that exactly match all four criteria
A rule with all four fields blank is your global default rate. Create one of these as a safety net to make sure every shift has at least some rate applied.
Date Ranges
Make rules active only during certain periods.
Every rate rule can have a valid from and valid to date. This lets you set up rate changes in advance without disrupting current payroll.
For example, if a client agrees to a rate increase starting 1 April, you can create the new rule with a Valid From of 1 April. The old rule will be used for shifts before that date, and the new rule will kick in automatically on 1 April.
When two rules have the same scope and priority but different date ranges, TempClock uses the one whose date range includes the shift date. This makes rate changes completely seamless.
Fallback Rates
What happens when no rule matches.
If TempClock cannot find any rate rule that matches a particular shift, it falls back to the worker's default rates. These are the hourly rate and charge rate that you set on the worker's profile when you added them to the system.
It is good practice to always have a global default rule (all scope fields blank) as a safety net. This way, even if you forget to create a specific rule, workers will still be paid at a reasonable rate rather than defaulting to their profile rate, which may be outdated.
How Rate Matching Works in Practice
A step-by-step walkthrough of how TempClock picks the right rate.
When TempClock processes a shift for payroll, here is exactly what happens behind the scenes:
Gather shift details
TempClock looks at the shift and notes the client, location, job role, cost code, and date.
Find all matching rules
The system checks every active rate rule to see which ones match the shift's details. A rule matches if every filled-in scope field matches the shift (blank fields match everything).
Filter by date range
From the matching rules, TempClock removes any whose date range does not include the shift date.
Pick the highest priority
From the remaining rules, TempClock picks the one with the most scope fields filled in (the highest priority). If there is a tie, the most recently created rule wins.
Apply the rates
The pay rate and charge rate from the winning rule are used for payroll calculations. If no rule matched at all, the worker's default profile rates are used instead.
You can see which rate rule was applied to any shift by opening the entry detail panel on the Timesheets page. The Rate Rule field shows the name of the rule that was used.
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