When you hire someone, you'll need to add them to PaySauce with their employment details, tax information, and payment settings. This ensures they're paid correctly and can access their own employee account.
Adding an employee
To add a new employee:
Select Employees from the navigation menu
In the Create employee section, complete all required fields across the following sections
Employee detail
Enter the employee's personal information, including their name and contact details.
Tax details
Enter the employee's tax information:
Tax file number and tax residency status
Student loan details (if applicable)
Medicare surcharge levy or exemptions (if applicable)
⚠️ If the employee is a foreign resident or has specific tax circumstances, make sure to include this information.
Employment details
Provide the specifics of the employment agreement:
Employment type
Full-time, Part-time, or Casual
This affects which entitlements and allowances apply to the employee
Employment start date
The date the employee begins work
Agreement type
Currently only Standard agreements are supported
This affects entitlements and allowances
Annual leave
The number of weeks of annual leave the employee is entitled to per year
Work pattern
The employee's expected or normal work schedule
Mandatory for part-time employees to calculate pay correctly
Used for award comparisons, variance reporting, and rostering for all employees
Work pattern details
Start date: When the work pattern begins. This is also used for when overtime over a certain period will start calculating from.
Pattern type: Choose N/A (not recommended), Weekly, Fortnightly, or Variable
Hours per day: Enter the expected hours for each day of the week
Enter 0 for non-working days
Use decimals for partial hours (e.g., 8.5 for 8 hours 30 minutes, 4.25 for 4 hours 15 minutes)
Note: While work patterns are not mandatory for full time or casual employees, we strongly advise adding them for all employees this unlocks multiple great tools within PaySauce.
The Pay Period start date and Work Pattern Start date are not connected.
For example: A Pay Period may run from Monday to Sunday but the Work Pattern starts on a Thursday. If Overtime is calculated after 38 hours in a week, the calculation will start from the Thursday and run through to the Wednesday. This could lead to the overtime calculation split between two pay periods.
Time entry model
After setting up the employee's work pattern, choose how they'll record their hours worked on each timesheet.
Select an option from the Time entry model dropdown:
Quantity of hours (default) – the employee enters the total number of hours worked per shift as a decimal number (e.g. 8.5 for eight and a half hours)
Start and end times – the employee enters the exact start and finish time of their shift, which PaySauce uses to calculate hours worked automatically
Timeclock - the employee will only be able to enter hours through the timeclock. Creating or editing shifts will be disabled for them.
This setting applies to this employee only - changing it won't affect other employees. Whatever you choose here determines how timesheets must be entered for this employee, both by the employee themselves and by you when adding timesheets on their behalf.
Note: Start and end times provide more precise records and can be useful for award compliance. Quantity of hours is simpler and suits employees whose total hours are straightforward to record.
Time clock
If you want to require an employee to record their shifts using a centralised time clock device rather than through their PaySauce app, enable the Time clock setting for that employee.
When the time clock is enabled:
Disable the employee from submitting timesheets through the PaySauce app by setting the Time Entry Model to Timeclock on their employee profile.
They must use the designated time clock device (set up by you) to clock on at the start of their shift and clock off at the end.
This lets you confirm the employee's location when they record their time, rather than relying on self-reported hours from their phone.
This setting is configured per employee and doesn't affect others.
If the employee's Time Entry Model is set to Quantity of Hours, this will allow them to clock in and out of the Timeclock as well as create and edit on the PaySauce app.
To set up and configure the time clock device itself, see Setting up and using the time clock
Overtime threshold
Set when overtime rates begin to apply:
Weekly: 38 hours per week
Fortnightly: 76 hours per fortnight
4 Weekly: 152 hours per 4 weeks
Note: The Overtime Threshold to select will depend on both the award used and your employment agreement. Each period starts from the first day of the employee's Work Pattern start date.
Income stream type code
Salary and Wages: Most employees
Closely Held Payee: Family members, directors, shareholders, or beneficiaries of a trust
Award details
Set the award and pay rates that apply to this employee.
Award selection
Choose the applicable award for the employee. Even if the employee is paid differently to award minimums (such as on an Individual Flexibility Agreement), select the award. PaySauce uses this information to provide award comparisons and ensure Better Off Overall Test compliance.
Note: If the employee's award isn't supported in PaySauce, select "No award" and enter their pay details manually in the remaining fields.
Custom pay rates
Select Use custom pay rates if the employee receives a different base hourly rate than the standard award rate. Enter their base hourly rate in the field provided.
Classification
Set the employee's classification or level under their award.
Award-specific details (if applicable)
Each award will have specific information tailored to it. Please review our help articles on each award for further information.
For example, the Pastoral Award allows you to select the following:
Is dairy operator
Is full-time secondary student
First aid allowance
Leading hands allowance
Flat rate employees
Select this option if the employee is paid a flat rate per hour instead of variable award rates. This applies to salaried employees and those on individual flexibility agreements.
When selected, configure the following:
Apply annual leave loading: Selected by default. Determines if the employee accrues annual leave
Accrue leave for overtime hours: Select if leave should accrue for overtime as well as ordinary hours
Cap leave accrual hours: Limit the maximum hours for which leave accrues per pay period
Enter the maximum hours (use decimals for partial hours, e.g., 8.5 for 8 hours 30 minutes)
Accrue superannuation for overtime hours: Select if super should accrue for overtime as well as ordinary hours
Rates for flat rate employees
Default rate: Enter the base hourly rate the employee will earn
Custom rates: Below the default rate, you can define additional rates for different activities or situations
Select the + button to add a custom rate
Give each rate a name and value
Repeat for each additional rate needed
⚠️ If a rate name contains "overtime" or "public holiday," hours paid at that rate will be classified accordingly. This is important for payslip transparency and award comparison purposes.
Settings For Automatic Calculations
Use these options if your employee has pre-define rules for how their overtime is calculated.
Overtime Rules:
Use these settings to automatically calculate when your employee earns overtime. This is useful if your employee is on conditions seperate to the award, if they are on an award we do not support yet or if they do not operate on an award.
Trigger automatic overtime based on cumulative hours: Selecting this option will pay overtime based on the "Overtime Threshold" option selected on the previous screen. The period uses the "Work Pattern Start Date" as the starting point and will make sure the total ordinary hours in that period do not exceed the limit.
Trigger automatic overtime based on daily work limits: Selecting this option will allow you to set a maximum amount of ordinary hours that can be worked in a day. Any hours over this will be classed as overtime.
The two overtime settings can be used individually or together. When used together, the hours used to calculate the period limit will not include any overtime hours worked from the daily limit.
When automatic overtime calculation is turned on, additional settings will be provided to set the rate:
Default Overtime Multiplier: Set how much the employee's base rate should be multiplied by when they earn overtime. Time and a half is represented as 1.5 and double time is represented as 2.
Use tiered Overtime: Use this setting if the employee receives two different amounts of overtime based on the hours worked.
Tier 2 overtime multiplier: Set how much to multiply the employee's base rate by.
Number of overtime hours until this rate applies: Set how many overtime hours the employee needs to work before receiving the second tier of overtime.
Penalty Rates
Use these settings if your employee receives penalty rates. When set up, the employee will receive a penalty rate for any hours worked within the designated times. It will only apply to the part of the shift within the hours and not the entire shift.
Apply Mon-Fri penalty rates: The penalty rates will only apply from Monday to Friday.
Apply Saturday penalty rates: The penalty rates will only apply on Saturday.
Apply Sunday penalty rates: The penalty rate will only apply on Sunday.
Configure each day with the following settings:
Apply to whole day: Tick this box if the penalty rate is to apply from 00:00 to 24:00 on the selected day. Ticking this box will hide the following two settings.
Apply penalty inside of these hours: Tick this box if they receive the penalty rate for anytime worked between the start and finish time. Leave it unticked if they are to receive the penalty rate outside of the hours.
Start / End time: Enter in when the period starts and when the period ends.
Rate multiplier: Enter in the amount to multiply the employee's base rate by. Time and a half is represented by 1.5 and double time is represented by 2.0
Apply penalty rate inside or outside of hours?
It is important to make sure this is set up clearly and correctly.
If your employee received their base rate for hours worked from 18:00 to 06:00, then it would be recommended to set it up as following:
Apply penalty rates inside of these hours: Unticked
Start time: 06:00
End time: 18:00
If your employee receives a penalty rate for time worked before 06:00, it would be recommended to set it up as the following:
Apply penalty rates inside of these hours: Ticked
Start time: 00:00
End time: 06:00
Priority Order
When using penalty rates, overtime and custom rates, there is a clear order of priority.
Defined Custom Rates: Any defined custom rates will override all other calculations.
Overtime: If overtime is worked during penalty rate hours, then the hours will be classed as overtime and paid at whichever has the higher multiplier.
Penalty Rate: Penalty rates have the lowest priority order.
Bank details
Enter the employee's payment information:
Payment type
NPP (bank account): The main transfer method used by most major Australian banks
Direct credit: The traditional, slower method used by some smaller banks
Account details
Account name
BSB
Account number
Superannuation details
Enter the employee's superannuation fund information:
Opt out: Only select this if the employee has formally opted out of receiving superannuation payments
Fund name: The name of the superannuation fund
Fund USI: The unique superannuation identifier
Member number: The employee's member number with the fund
Saving the employee
Once all fields are complete, choose one of the following:
Save: Creates the employee record in your organisation
Create and invite: Creates the employee record and sends an email invitation for them to create their PaySauce account (recommended)
Inviting an employee to PaySauce
Inviting employees to PaySauce allows them to submit timesheets, request leave, view payslips, and submit reimbursements.
Method 1: Invite during creation
Select Create and invite when adding the employee's information. This creates their record and sends the invitation email in one step.
Method 2: Invite after creation
Go to the Employees section
Select the employee from the list
Select Send invitation
Invitation status
You can view the invitation status in the employee's record:
Pending: The invitation has been sent and is waiting for the employee to accept (invitations remain pending for 7 days)
Accepted: The employee has created their PaySauce account
Note: If an invitation expires after 7 days, you can send another invitation.
Common Questions
I'm not sure which award to select
I'm not sure which award to select
If you're unsure which award applies, consult Fair Work or your industry association. If the award isn't listed in PaySauce, select "No award" and enter the pay details manually.
The employee is paid differently to the award minimum
The employee is paid differently to the award minimum
Still select the appropriate award, then use custom pay rates to set their actual pay. PaySauce uses the award information to provide compliance comparisons.
I need to change the employee's details after saving
I need to change the employee's details after saving
You can edit employee details at any time by selecting the employee from the Employees list and making your changes.