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Rate cards in contracts

A rate card is the price list for a client or location: pay rates per shift type, charge rates per shift type, and any uplifts for overtime or unsociable hours. Rate cards are configured centrally by the payroll team and carry the grades, specialities and divisions they apply to, plus their rules (for example an on-call allowance, minimum-hours or call-out rules, and call-out rates). This article covers the contract side of the picture. For the client-side rate card setup, see Rate cards.

Where the rate card is used​

The same rate card behaves differently depending on where you are working:

  • On a vacancy the rate card is for exploring numbers only. Nothing locks, so you can model what a placement might look like without committing to figures.
  • On a shortlist and contract you work the actual figures: the pay rate, the charge rate, the worker type, and any custom rule. Together these arrive at the locked contract rate.

Rates remain editable at contract level until contracts are sent.

Worker types and on-cost​

The candidate Financials tab offers three worker types: Employee, Company contractor and Umbrella. The worker type drives the on-cost that sits behind the charge rate.

A PAYG worker is not a separate type. A PAYG worker is an Employee, with the superannuation, TFN and tax-residency fields (AU) set on the candidate record.

Rate cards intentionally default every payment type to Employee, the worst-case on-cost. In Australia that means superannuation at 12%, workers compensation and payroll tax. Defaulting to the worst case means a vacancy surfaces the full on-cost up front, so the margin you see is the safe one. Recruiters then switch to the real worker type, Company contractor or Umbrella, at shortlist or contract.

Build on the worst case

Build rate cards on the Employee on-cost and set the pay rate within the card's locks so even an Employee placement does not produce a negative margin. A Company contractor or Umbrella card carries no superannuation, so stripping super from the same charge rate should still leave a non-negative margin.

A card exposes both a base rate and a pay rate, so you can quote either. Nurses are typically quoted a base rate and doctors a pay rate.

Coming later

An individual-contractor worker type is planned but is not yet selectable. Leave the ABN-status and entity-type fields blank until it ships.

How a contract inherits rates​

When you create a contract on a vacancy at a client location, RecSphere looks for the most specific rate card in scope:

  1. Location rate card at the chosen client location (for example, NHS South West, Bristol Royal Infirmary).
  2. Client rate card if no location card exists.
  3. Default contract rates entered manually, if no client or location card exists.

The matched card supplies pay and charge rates for each shift type, including any overtime and unsociable-hours uplifts.

Matching on Division, Grade and Speciality​

A rate card only resolves if its Division, Grade and Speciality match the contract. If no card matches at that level, RecSphere falls back to a less specific card. If nothing fits at all, the contract can end up with no rates.

To avoid that, include an "any / any" fallback row alongside your specialty-specific rows. Any field below the matched level can be set to "any", so a row set to Division X with Grade and Speciality both "any" still pulls rates for a contract that brings a new or different grade or speciality.

Always include a fallback

Without an "any / any" row, a contract with an unexpected grade or speciality can resolve to no rates at all. Add a fallback row so every contract pulls a rate, then refine with specialty-specific rows on top.

Locking rates when contracts are sent​

While a contract is being prepared you can still change its rate. When the contract is sent, the rates in scope at that moment are locked onto the contract. From that point forward, those rates belong to the contract, not the card.

This matters because:

  • A change to the client or location rate card after the contract is sent does not retroactively change the contract.
  • New contracts created after the card change pick up the new rates.
  • Existing contracts continue on their locked rates until you change them deliberately.
Contract beats card

A contract's rates always win over the rate card once the contract is sent. The card is a default, the contract is the source of truth.

Overriding a single line​

You can override one or more lines on a live contract without affecting the rest:

  1. Open the contract.
  2. Open the Rates tab.
  3. Edit the affected line (for example, change the night shift pay rate from GBP 18.50 to GBP 20.00).
  4. Set an effective-from date for the override.
  5. Save.

RecSphere stores the override with its effective date, so reports and audit logs show clearly when the change happened.

Recalculating timesheets after a manual override​

If the override has a backdated effective-from date, timesheets in the affected window need recalculation:

  1. Open the contract and use the recalculate action on the Rates tab.
  2. RecSphere lists every approved timesheet in scope and the pay/charge delta for each.
  3. Confirm to apply the recalculation.

The delta is posted as an automatic adjustment so it flows into the next payroll run and invoice. See Adjustments for how to review or reverse this.

When to override versus update the card​

A simple rule:

  • If the change applies to one candidate only, override the contract.
  • If the change applies to everyone at the client or location going forward, update the rate card. New contracts will pick it up; existing contracts will not.

If you want the card change to apply to existing contracts as well, override each affected contract too.

The rules engine​

Rules are how a rate card turns raw hours into the right pay: overtime bands, shift loadings, allowances and one-off fees. Rules are configured under Settings > Payroll > Rules, and rate cards are edited from Settings > Payroll > Rate cards.

How rules are evaluated​

Rules are linear. RecSphere works through them top to bottom and tries to satisfy each rule in order. If a rule cannot match the hours, it moves on to the next one. Order matters, so put the most specific or most-likely rules at the top to catch them first. Saturday and Sunday rules, for example, usually belong near the top. Rows are reorderable with the up and down arrows.

Parent and child rules​

A rule can contain child rules. Use Add child to nest a rule under a parent. A child only evaluates against the hours that already matched its parent's conditions, so children let you split a matched block further.

For example, a night-shift parent (a start-time-of-day window on chosen weekdays) can carry an overtime child for hours "greater than 10 hours" and a day-shift child for hours "over 8 hours". A parent can have several children, and Saturday and Sunday parents can carry children of their own.

Rule fields​

A rule is built from these fields:

  • Earnings type and overtime earnings type. These drive which superannuation and tax treatment applies.
  • Override rate. Set on the rate card.
  • Start time of day and end time of day. The window is inclusive.
  • Day(s) of the week. The days the rule applies on.
  • Majority day. Pick a day and the rule captures the whole shift that falls mostly on that day, without needing exact times.
  • Multiplier or flat fee for overtime. For example 2x, 2.5x or 3x for different hour bands such as 8 to 10 hours and 10 to 12 hours.
  • Conditions. For example total time over 8 hours. Conditions stack onto a rule or a child.

Allowances and fees​

Allowance rules cover pay that is not a straight hourly multiple:

  • Hourly allowance. On an allowance-type rule, for example an on-call allowance, set the allowance basis to hourly. It then appears on the timesheet as an option to enter an hourly rate for the hours selected.
  • Flat-fee allowance. A one-off fee per shift, for example a "nurse in charge" fee.