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How to Configure Higher Duty Settings

Guide to setting up higher duty roles that re-code a worker's whole day to a higher duty rate when a daily hours threshold is met

What This Feature Does

Higher Duty Settings let you nominate higher duty roles for a rule group. When a worker performs a higher duty role for at least a configured number of hours in a single day, all of that worker's timesheets for that day are re-coded against the higher duty role's rates and rate type — not just the hours actually worked in the higher duty role.

This automates the common award/EBA requirement where working enough of a higher-graded role on a day entitles the worker to that higher rate for the entire day.

Higher Duty Settings are configured per Rule Group inside a pay rate document.

When It Applies

Higher duty is a role-based setting, so it is only relevant for documents whose rate tree includes a role level:

  1. Employment Type → Role
  2. Role

The Higher Duty Settings section only appears in the Rule Groups tab when the document's tree is structured with a role level. For trees without roles, the setting is hidden because there is no higher duty role to match against.

Key Concepts

Enabled Toggle

Higher duty is off by default. Each rule group has an enable/disable toggle so you can turn the behavior on only where an agreement requires it, and disable it without losing the configured roles.

Higher Duty Roles

Each higher duty entry nominates:

FieldDescription
RoleThe role (from your roles list) that is treated as a higher duty role
Minimum HoursThe hours this role must be worked in a single day before the day is re-coded

You can configure multiple higher duty roles per rule group, but each role can only be added once.

Daily Threshold & Re-coding

Higher duty is evaluated per worker, per calendar day:

  1. Hours are summed per role across all of the worker's timesheets for the day.
  2. If a higher duty role's total reaches its Minimum Hours threshold, that role becomes the day's higher duty role.
  3. Every timesheet that day — including hours worked under other roles — is re-coded against the higher duty role's matched rate tree node (its rates and rate type).

Leave timesheets are ignored when summing hours and are not re-coded.

Multiple Qualifying Roles

If more than one higher duty role meets its threshold on the same day, the winner is chosen in this order:

  1. Highest rate — the higher-paying role (its rate tree node's base rate) wins.
  2. Most hours worked that day — used if two roles have the same rate.
  3. Highest threshold — used if rate and hours are both tied.
  4. Role identity — a final tie-breaker for deterministic results.

Higher Duty Never Reduces Pay

Higher duty only ever moves a timesheet up to a better rate. If a timesheet's own role already pays a higher base rate than the qualifying higher duty role, that timesheet is left on its original role rather than being re-coded down. Other timesheets that day (those paid less than the higher duty role) are still re-coded. When this happens, the timesheet's reasoning notes that higher duty was going to apply but the role's own rate is higher, so the original role was kept.

How to Configure Higher Duty Settings

  1. Open a pay rate document from the Pay Rate Documents tab
  2. Navigate to the Rule Groups section
  3. In the Higher Duty Settings area, click "Higher Duty Settings"
  4. Toggle Enable higher duty on
  5. Click "Add Role" and choose the higher duty role
  6. Enter the Min Hours threshold for that role
  7. Repeat for any additional higher duty roles
  8. Click "Save"

When higher duty is enabled, the Rule Groups tab shows a summary badge with the configured roles and their thresholds.

Example

A worker submits two timesheets on the same day:

  • Timesheet A: Labourer role for 4 hours
  • Timesheet B: Supervisor role for 8 hours

The rule group has a higher duty role for Supervisor with a 6 hour threshold.

Because the worker performed 8 hours as a Supervisor (≥ 6), Supervisor becomes the day's higher duty role. All 12 hours that day — including the 4 Labourer hours — are paid at the Supervisor role's rates and rate type.

If the worker had only performed 5 hours as a Supervisor, the threshold would not be met and each timesheet would be paid at its own role's rates.

How It Interacts with Other Rules

Higher duty runs as a pre-pass before per-timesheet rate calculation. It only changes which rate tree node (and therefore which rates and rule group) a timesheet is coded against. Overtime, shift rules, allowances, and other rule types then evaluate normally using the re-coded rates.

Tips

  • Match your award: Set thresholds to match the higher duty provisions in your award or EBA.
  • Role-based trees only: If you don't see the Higher Duty Settings section, confirm the document's tree includes a role level.
  • Disable instead of delete: Turn higher duty off to pause it while keeping the configured roles for later.
  • Test after applying: Review a worker's day after applying rates to confirm the whole day re-codes to the higher duty role when the threshold is met.

What's Next