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How To Create A Shift Rate [beta]

Create or edit a pay rate card to add a specific rates for shifts as well as view the shift in the pay dashboard

Anjelica avatar
Written by Anjelica
Updated yesterday

This feature is currently in a limited Beta with no new participants being accepted. The beta is operating in maintenance mode only, with no future planned updates or improvements.

A shift is a set time which is allocated to a Carer, they will get paid a set amount regardless of how many visits they complete during this time. This is useful for creating a regular schedule and ensuring they are meeting their contracted hours of work. 

Before Carer's start completing shifts it is important to set up a specific shift rate to ensure they get paid.

How to create a Shift rate

Start by going to the Pay Rates tab and click on the New Pay Rate button. From here you will add the name of the rate.  To add a rate, click the Add rate button next to the Shift rates section.

Birdie Finance invoice rate creation page with left sidebar showing "Pay Rates" highlighted in turquoise circle under "Manage Payroll". Main content shows Name field filled with "ED Day rate", Shift rates section (no rates added) with "Add rate" button highlighted in turquoise circle, and Default visit rates section (no rates added) with another "Add rate" button.

Add the details of the rate such as:

  • Day type

  • When it will apply

  • Rate (single, fixed, banded)

  • Hourly Rate

Video that shows adding weekend shift rates under Pay rate card details header. The add rate button brings up a modal to select Day type, when it applies, rate type and amount. Also shows adding the Effective from date to a rate

You can add multiple rates, you should aim to input a rate for each hour of care delivered, for each day of the week.

For additional rates set up and to see how to assign a rate to a Carer, please see this article here - How to create and assign pay rate cards


How to edit an existing Pay rate

You can also add a Shift rate to an existing rate card. To do this, find the pay rate card and click Edit.

Pay rate card page with left sidebar showing "Pay Rates" highlighted in turquoise circle. Main content displays Shift rates table with two entries (Monday-Sunday at £11.50 and Saturday-Sunday at £14.00, both Single type "Whole day") and Default visit rates table with one entry (Monday-Sunday at £12.00 Single type "Whole day"). Top buttons include Archive rate card, Audit trail, Assign caregivers, Duplicate rate card, and "Edit" highlighted in turquoise circle.

Add your shift rates as shown above, You will need to enter what date this rate will be effective from, you will not be able to save this page without this information.

You can backdate a pay rate up to 60 days. Click Save when you are done. You will want to make sure this rate is assigned to the Carer before they start their shifts.

Pay rate card details form with breadcrumb navigation showing "Pay rates". Contains Name field filled with "junior carer", "When should these rates take effect?" section with note about 60-day backdate limit, "Effective from date" dropdown highlighted in turquoise circle set to "Date", "Uplift visit rates by a percentage" section with "e.g. 5" input field and "Apply uplift" button, and Shift rates table showing two entries (Monday-Sunday at £11.50 and Saturday-Sunday at £14.00, both Single type "Whole day").


Shifts and the Pay Dashboard

Once a shift has been assigned to a Carer, it will populate directly into the Generate Pay Runs tab. As it is paid on planned time it will be automatically confirmed meaning there is no need to reconcile or confirm it, saving you time.

Birdie Finance "Generate Pay Runs" page with left sidebar showing "Generate Pay Runs" highlighted in turquoise circle. Main content displays period 01 Jul 2025 - 01 Sep 2025 with Balance £530.90 and Hours 34.5. Table shows caregivers including Berty Bryan (£11.95 for 1.00 hours with "Shift" item type highlighted in turquoise circle), Rodrigo (£100.32 for 7.00 hours with "Visit" item type), and anjie c (£0.00 for 0.00 hour with "Visit" item type). "Create pay run" button visible at top right.

Under the Item type column, you will be able to see if it is a shift or a visit. You can click on the row to see a further breakdown of the Carer's timesheet.

Berty's timesheet page with breadcrumb navigation showing "Pay dashboard". Period selector shows 01 Jul 2025 - 01 Sep 2025. Table displays single entry: "Shift" item type on 16 Jul 2025 with paid time 09:30-10:30 (1 hour), no care recipient, travel, or waiting time, 0.00 miles mileage, £0.00 expenses. Shows 1 out of 1 entries with "Update travel" and "Restore visits" buttons.

If you would like to view and/or download the timesheets by shift, visits or by Carer you can do this on the Generate Pay Runs tab tab.

Birdie Finance "Generate Pay Runs" page with left sidebar showing "View Pay Runs" highlighted in turquoise circle. Main content displays period 01 Jul 2025 - 01 Sep 2025 with Balance £530.90 and Hours 34.5. Table shows caregivers including Berty Bryan (£11.95), Rodrigo de la Roza (£100.32), and anjie c (£0.00). Export dropdown menu is open showing options "to CSV (by caregiver)", "to CSV (by visit)", and "to CSV (by shift)". Export button highlighted in turquoise circle.

Once you are happy with the information you can generate the Pay run as normal, which will then populate the Pay runs tab ready to be exported to your accounting software.

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