Situations - Work and Pay Rules Group

Parameters that define Work and Pay rules are generally based on business rules specific to your transit site.

They include rules relating to sign on/sign off allowances, travel times, shift breaks, and piece breaks. If they have been entered correctly during the initial setup of BlockBuster Web, you do not have to alter them during the runcutting process.

For example, BlockBuster Web provides the option to pay or not pay certain types of travel. This is defined by selecting Travel Rules, which is described in the following table. The rules can change depending on the run type.

You can also define when the travels are counted toward the total time of the parameter. Examples of this are when travel is included in the make up, shift, shift break, and piece break.

Through the Work and Pay rules, the values for the Report, Preparation, Finish, and Clear times at selected nodes are also applied to Meal Breaks, for example, when the ‘Report on layover meal break' parameter under the Report Rules Situation is applied.
Situation Description
Pay Rules This situation sets the items (for example, overtime or makeup time) that are included in the calculation of the operator’s pay.

This situation sets the items (for example, overtime or makeup time) that are included in the calculation of the operator’s pay.

Examples of Pay Rule parameters are:
  • Pay Work OT first, difference as Spread OT. When checked, spread overtime is calculated in this manner:

    Spread OT - Work OT. If the total is a negative value, 0 would be the spread overtime.

  • Pay Spread OT first, difference as Work OT: When checked, work overtime is calculated in this manner:

    Work OT - Spread OT. If the total is a negative value, 0 would be the work overtime.

Each transit site has its own set of rules on what constitutes an operator’s pay. For example, one site may combine report time with preparation time but another site considers them as separate times. To accommodate these differences, the parameters are broken down to different elements that sites may consider in the pay calculation. Some examples are:
  • Pay includes report
  • Pay includes preparation
  • Pay includes turn in
  • Pay includes finish

    The breakdown to separate parameters has also been applied to the Piece Pay Rules.

    Comparison of OT before premiums

    (This is only relevant if overtime premium and spread premium are different.)

    If Compare OT Before Premiums is false: it works in the same manner as when Overtime is Compared to Spread Overtime and one is paid first or only the largest is paid depending on the other parameters.

    If Compare OT Before Premiums is true, then Spread Excess (time beyond spread threshold) is compared to Work Excess (time beyond the overtime threshold) and one is paid first or only the largest is paid depending on the other parameters.
Pay Rules (cont'd) Illustration:
  • Compare OT Before Premiums is False

    Overtime = 40 min * 100% = 40 min

    Spread Overtime = 60 min * 50% = 30 min

    Pay greater of overtime or spread overtime True: Pay 40 min Overtime, 0 Spread Overtime

    Pay Work OT first, difference as Spread OT True: Pay 40 min Overtime, 0 Spread Overtime

    Pay Spread OT first, difference as Work OT True: Pay 10 min Overtime, 30 min Spread Overtime

  • Compare OT Before Premiums True

    Work Excess = 40 min

    Spread Excess = 60 min

    Pay greater of overtime or spread overtime True: Pay 0 Overtime, 30 min Spread Overtime

    Pay Work OT first, difference as Spread OT True: Pay 40 min Overtime, 10 min Spread Overtime ( (60 - 40) x 50%)

    Pay Spread OT first, difference as Work OT True: Pay 0 Overtime, 30 min Spread Overtime
Piece Break Rules Select the parameters that are not included in the calculation of the piece break time.
Piece Pay Rules Select the parameters that are not included in the calculation of the piece pay.
Report Rules This situation sets the rules for the times that are considered report time and are included in the report pay calculation for multiple-piece runs. Report time is usually considered the very start of a piece.
Shift Break Rules Select the parameters that are not included in the calculation of the shift break time.
Shift Rules This situation determines what times (report, turn-in, start travel, and end travel) are included in the total shift time.
Meal Break Rules Select the applicable parameters if your transit site uses meal breaks.
Spread Rules

This situation defines the times that are included in spread time.
Travel Rules Select the parameters for the types of travel for which your transit site pays.

A common Travel Rule parameter is Travel Bonus. It must be associated with a particular run type and is paid as Travel Pay each time the run has a travel time greater than 0, which is the default (for example, with a travel bonus of five minutes, a run with two pieces that has travel at the beginning and end of each piece will have a total travel bonus of 20 minutes (4 * 5 minutes).
Clear Rules This situation defines the times that are included in clear time.
Work Rules Select the appropriate option if your transit site includes report, travel or turn-in time when determining work time.
Prep. Time Rules This situation is similar to Report Rules. It determines when the time is applied before an operator starts his or her piece of work. The sequence as to how an operator’s time is usually allocated is Report time, Travel time, and Preparation time.
Finish Time Rules This situation is similar to Turn-in Rules. It assigns the time when the time is applied at the conclusion of an operator’s piece of work. The sequence is usually Finish time, Travel time, and Turn-in time.
Spread Time for Pay Rules This situation refers to parameters that allow spread time to be calculated separately based on whether or not the runs are legal and are based on pay.
Miscellaneous Work Rules This situation refers to parameters that are not associated with a specific work and pay rule.
Note: The parameters "All school day only work OK" and "Same school day only work OK" are not currently used.
Report Times This situation refers to the amount of time when an operator pulls out from a garage or from a road relief that is considered as report time.
Clear Times This situation assigns the amount of time considered as clear time.
Prep. Times This situation assigns the amount of time that is considered as Prep. (Preparation) Time. This is after the travel time of an operator before starting his or her piece of work. See also Prep Time Rules.
Finish Times

This situation determines the amount of time that is considered as Finish Time. This is before the travel time of an operator on his way to the garage.

Sign On Rules/Sign Off Rules These situations allow you to set the attributes for the calculation of the sign-on and sign-off times.