How to Get Started with Awards

What Does the Awards Engine Do?

Interprets employee timesheets against your pay rules
Calculates overtime (daily, roster/period, public holiday)
Applies penalty rates (weekends, nights, public holidays)
Enforces minimum engagement guarantees
Manages allowances (cumulative, non-cumulative, unit-based)
Computes meal break entitlements
Exports results to your payroll provider

How to Access Awards

Awards are managed from the Payroll Rules settings page:

Click Settings (cog icon) in the left sidebar.
Select Payroll Rules from the settings menu.
Scroll down past the time and pay period settings to the Pay Rules and Calculations section.

From here you can view all your configured awards, create new ones, and manage existing versions.

What You Will See

The Pay Rules and Calculations section displays:

Status filter — filter awards by status (Draft, Live, or All)
Search bar — find awards by name
Create New button — start building a new award
Award cards — each card shows the award name, status, version number, last updated date, and description
View button on each card — opens the version history for that award

Award Configuration Workflow

Setting up an award follows a seven-step wizard:

Select Award — choose a base template and name your award
Employment Types — define which employee classifications apply
Payroll Configuration — set payroll periods, overtime thresholds, and rounding
Rules — configure minimum engagement, overtime, penalties, and meal break rules
Pay Rates — set hourly rates for each classification level
Allowances — define cumulative, non-cumulative, and unit allowances
Publish — save as draft or publish live with an effective date

As you work through the wizard, Timecloud validates your entries in real time. Red error icons highlight any employment types, rule categories, or individual rules that need attention. Hover over disabled buttons for a tooltip showing exactly where to fix issues.

Key Concepts

Employment Types — categories like Full Time, Part Time, or Casual that determine which rules apply to each employee
Draft vs Live — awards start as drafts for editing; publish as Live to activate them for payroll
Versions — each award can have multiple versions, allowing you to track changes over time
Test Pay Rules — a built-in tool for testing your rules against sample timesheets before going live

Next Steps

How to Create an Award — start building your first award from a template
How to Configure Employment Types — set up employee classifications
How to Publish Award Versions — go live with your configuration
How to Use Test Pay Rules — validate your rules before publishing

How to Get Started with Awards

The Awards feature is Timecloud's pay interpretation engine. It automatically calculates overtime, penalties, allowances, and minimum engagement rules based on your configured award or enterprise agreement.