How do I set up Banked Hours for my company?

The banked hours system allows employees to accumulate hours worked beyond their normal schedule to be compensated later.

At Day.io you activate and configure banked hours within the Paid Overtime tab of your pay policy.

There you define start and end dates, expiration cycles, whether the bank is cyclical, how hours are distributed between the bank and overtime, and when balances convert.

These settings ensure compliance with collective agreements while offering flexibility for each company.

1. Activate banked hours

   • Access Pay Policies and open a policy or create a new one.

   • Go to the Paid Overtime tab and turn on the Activate Banked Hours toggle.

   • Specify:

     • Bank start date: when accumulation begins.

       • First due date (Optional): choose a closing date if your company already had a bank.

     • Bank duration: length of each period in months.

       • Cyclical bank (Optional): works with a defined number of cycles (months).
         With each new cycle, the system automatically closes the oldest balance, settling any positive or negative hours from that period.
         Example: if the bank is configured with 3 cycles before restarting. In January, the employee accumulated +10 hours; In February, they accumulated +20 hours; In March, the +10 hours from January are settled, as January reached the end of the cycle.

     • Hide Banked Hours in app: choose whether employees see their balance on the mobile app.

     • Missing days: decide if days without punches reduce the banked hours balance and if they are labeled as Missing Days (for indicators in the platform).
       
       

2. Divide compensation days

   • Choose how to distribute phases:

     • Specific days: Directly indicate which days (Monday to Saturday, Sunday, holidays) are part of each phase.
     • Planned and Non planned days: Use the employee's planned and unplanned days in Schedules as the parameter to each phase.
   • Separate shifts that span more than one day (in cases of shifts ending after 00:00):
     • Calendar: If the phases are divided after the day changes to another day on the calendar.
     • Shifts: If the phases must respect the planned work day, as a single shift.
       
       

3. Configure the compensation method

   • For each phase, choose whether the compensation uses a percentage or a multiplier.

     • A percentage adds a fixed rate (e.g., 50 %). This information will appear in payroll reports and events.

     • A multiplier multiplies the time worked (e.g., ×1, ×1.5, ×2). The multiplied hours are updated in real time for the employee to use.
       Example: 30 minutes of positive balance with a x2 multiplier will become 1 positive hour for the employee.
       
       
       

4. Personalise phases

   • Click New row to add a phase.

   • Choose applicable days and define the percentage or multiplier.

   • Rename the phase for better report readability.

   • To differentiate between night and day periods, click on the Sun/Moon icon.

   • If necessary, set limits and customised distributions.

     • Distribution of hours between banked hours and overtime for the same phase by sliding the slider (e.g., 100% banked, 50% banked / 50% overtime).
     • Daily limit in each phase, defining how many hours can go into the banked hours before being converted to another phase.
       
       

5. Define bank limits (Optional)

   • Used when there is a limit other than daily, regarding how many hours can be acquired in a given phase before being converted to another phase, or converting into overtime.

   • Select the original banked hours phase to be considered.

   • Configure whether the limit will be positive or negative hours.

   • Once exceeded, the surplus is converted into extra hours or transferred to another phase.

   • It is possible to define different limits for different phases, allowing for staggered conversions (for example, +20h to convert Phase A to Phase B, +40h to convert Phase B into overtime).
     
     

6. Activate limit alerts

   • Enable alerts to send notifications when an employee reaches a total of positive hours (daily, weekly or monthly).

   • Alerts serve only as warnings and do not prevent employees from exceeding the total.
     
     

7. Save and finish

   • After completing the settings, click Save.

   • Also configure Night Shift, Tolerance and On Call.

   • Important: only add employees after all settings are completed; after adding them, you cannot edit the policy.

Tips or troubleshooting

• Review start dates, expiration dates and durations to ensure the balance is accrued correctly.

• When using a cyclical bank, understand that the positive/negative balance from previous periods will close at the start of each cycle.

• If hours seem wrong, verify that employees are in the correct policy and that phases and percentages match the planned configuration.

Best practices

• Inform employees about accumulation and expiration rules.

• Combine percentages and multipliers to adjust compensation to your needs.

• Analyse reports regularly and adjust phases according to seasonality or agreement changes.

Frequently asked questions

1. Can I split hours between bank and overtime?
   Yes. Adjust the distribution bar to define the percentage of hours going into the bank and to overtime.

2. What happens when the bank limit is reached?
   The surplus is converted according to your rule: it can become overtime or transfer to another phase.

3. What is the difference between percentage and multiplier?
   The percentage adds a fixed rate to each hour; the multiplier multiplies the time worked (e.g., 1h × 1.5 = 1h30).

4. Can I edit rules after adding employees?
   No. All adjustments must be made before adding employees to the policy