Available for the following Payroll plans: Standard, Premium, Core Payroll
Available for the following user access levels: Employee, Manager, Admin
When timesheets are created, the system uses the recorded start and end times to calculate the hours worked. The platform does not account for the time zone in which the timesheet was created, nor does it make any automatic adjustments when daylight saving time starts or ends, it records only what time the employee clocked in and what time they clocked out.
How does this align with Fair Work?
Fair Work Australia has published guidance on this topic: What employees are paid if they work overnight when daylight saving starts or ends.
As per the Fair Work guidance, employees and employers should check their award or registered agreement for any terms relating to daylight saving. If there is nothing in the award or agreement about daylight saving, payment is made 'by the clock', meaning payment depends on whether daylight saving is starting or ending.
The way the platform processes timesheets aligns with this Fair Work position. For example, if an employee works an overnight shift when daylight saving ends and the clocks go back one hour, the system will calculate pay based on the recorded start and finish times only, the employee will not automatically be paid for the additional hour created by the clock change.
Do I need to make any adjustments?
If a manual adjustment is required, for example, where an award or registered agreement specifies different treatment for daylight saving shifts, this will need to be made directly within the employee's timesheet before the pay run is processed.
Helpful Hint
Before making any adjustments, check whether your employees' award or registered agreement contains specific terms about daylight saving time. If it does, those terms will determine how the shift should be paid. If it does not, the Fair Work 'by the clock' rule applies and no adjustment may be necessary.