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How to Configure Minimum Engagement Rules

Minimum engagement rules guarantee that employees are paid for a minimum number of hours when they work, even if they clock fewer actual hours. This is common in many awards and enterprise agreements.

Where to Find It

  1. Go to Settings > Payroll Rules and scroll to the Pay Rules and Calculations section.
  2. Select or create an award, then open the Rules step (Step 4).
  3. Select the relevant Employment Type from the panel.
  4. Expand the Daily Minimum Engagement accordion.

Rule Types Available

There are four types of minimum engagement rules:

1. Shift-Based Minimum Engagement

Guarantees minimum hours based on specific shifts.

How to set it up:

  • Click Add Rule under the Shift-Based Minimum Engagement header.
  • Working Shifts — tick the checkboxes next to each shift that should trigger this rule. Only selected shifts are evaluated.
  • Apply minimum engagement without check-in — toggle this on if the guarantee should apply even when an employee has no clock-in record for that shift.
    • ON — the employee receives minimum hours even without clocking in
    • OFF (default) — minimum engagement only applies when the employee has a clock-in record
  • Conditions — define hour thresholds:
    • Each condition reads: "If worked within [X] hours, top up to [X] hours"
    • Click Add Condition to add more tiers
    • Click the delete icon to remove a condition
  • Clause — enter the relevant award clause number for reference
  • Rule Title — give the rule a descriptive name
  • Enabled toggle — turn the rule on or off

2. Shift-Based Fixed Top Up

Adds a fixed number of paid minutes when an employee works at least a specified minimum on selected shifts. Unlike minimum engagement, this does not top up to a target — it adds a flat amount of extra paid time. Fixed top-up minutes do not contribute to overtime calculations.

How to set it up:

  • Click Add Rule under the Shift Based Fixed Top Up header.
  • Working Shifts — tick the shifts this rule applies to. Each shift can only be used in one Fixed Top Up rule at a time.
  • Minimum worked hours — enter the minimum number of hours an employee must work on the shift to trigger the top up.
  • Fixed top up — enter the number of minutes to add once the threshold is met.
  • Clause — enter the relevant award clause number.
  • Rule Title — give the rule a descriptive name.
  • Enabled toggle — turn the rule on or off.

Example: If you set minimum worked hours to 4 and fixed top up to 15 minutes, any employee who works 4 or more hours on the selected shift will receive an additional 15 minutes of paid time.

3. Daily Minimum Engagement

Guarantees minimum hours based on the day worked, regardless of shift.

How to set it up:

  • Click Add Rule under the Daily Minimum Engagement header.
  • Applicable Days — tick the days (Sunday–Saturday) this rule applies to.
  • Conditions — same threshold-based setup as shift-based:
    • "If worked within [X] hours, top up to [X] hours"
    • Click Add Condition for more tiers
  • Enter the Clause, Rule Title, and use the Enabled toggle.

4. Public Holiday Minimum Engagement

Guarantees minimum hours for work on public holidays.

How to set it up:

  • Click Add Rule under the Public Holiday Minimum Engagement header.
  • Conditions — define hour thresholds (same format as above).
  • No day selection needed — this rule automatically applies to configured public holidays.
  • Enter the Clause, Rule Title, and use the Enabled toggle.

Managing Rules

  • Enable/disable the entire group — use the toggle on the Daily Minimum Engagement accordion header to turn all minimum engagement rules on or off at once.
  • Remove a rule — click the remove icon in the clause section of any rule.
  • Multiple rules — you can add multiple rules of each type with different conditions.

Quick Reference

 

Setting

 

What It Does

 
 

Setting

 

What It Does

 

Working Shifts checkboxes

Choose which shifts trigger the shift-based rule

Apply minimum engagement without check-in

Pay minimum hours even when no clock-in exists

Minimum worked hours

Minimum hours needed before fixed top-up applies

Fixed top up (minutes)

Flat paid minutes added when threshold is met

Applicable Days checkboxes

Choose which days trigger the daily rule

Conditions (threshold / minimum)

Define tiered minimum-hour guarantees

Clause field

Reference the relevant award clause number

Rule Title

Name your rule for easy identification

Enabled toggle

Turn individual rules on or off
 
 
 

Tips

  • Shift-Based Fixed Top Up is ideal when your award requires a flat addition of paid time (e.g., 15 minutes travel allowance) rather than topping up to a minimum threshold. The added minutes are excluded from overtime calculations.
  • Use tiered conditions when your award has different minimum hours for different shift lengths (e.g., shifts under 4 hours get 3 hours minimum, shifts under 8 hours get 4 hours minimum).
  • Shift-based rules are ideal when minimum engagement depends on the specific shift template. Daily rules are better when the guarantee applies regardless of which shift was worked.
  • Each shift can only belong to one Fixed Top Up rule — if a shift is already assigned, it will be unavailable for other rules.
  • Remember to test your rules using the Test Bench before publishing live.