Shift Differentials in BambooHR help you manage additional pay rates for employees who work outside standard business hours, such as evenings, nights, or weekends. This guide explains how to set up, edit, and manage shift differentials, assign employees, and adjust permissions.

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Who this is for
• Before you start
• Shift Differentials in BambooHR
• Set up Shift Differentials in BambooHR
  • 1. Navigate to Shift Differentials
  • 2. Name the Shift Differential
  • 3. Select a Schedule Template
  • 4. Set the Pay Rate
  • 5. Assign Employees
  • 6. Manage Existing Differentials
• Timesheet Display
• Access and Permissions
• Shift Differentials Troubleshooting
• Variants by Role
• Related Articles

This guide is for BambooHR administrators and HR managers who manage Time Tracking and Payroll. You must have Full Admin access or custom access with Time Tracking Settings or Manage Shift Differentials permissions.

Before setting up shift differentials:

• Verify that Time Tracking and/or Payroll are enabled in your BambooHR account.
• Ensure you have permission to manage Time Tracking Settings.
• If you use Payroll only, note that employees cannot be directly assigned to differentials in BambooHR. Instead, use the Hours Importer, API, or manual entry in Payroll.

Shift Differential hours will be automatically calculated with BambooHR Time Tracking or can be manually added by customers using the Hours Importer, Hours API, or via direct edit in Payroll. If you're using BambooHR Payroll, shift differentials will be applied to the employee's base or project/task pay rate.

Customers can use Shift Differentials in several configurations:

• Time Tracking only
• Payroll only (via Hours Import/API/manual entry)
• Both Payroll and Time Tracking (the most seamless experience)

1. Add Shift Differential: Click this button to add a new shift differential to your account.

2. Name: This column lists the name of the shift differential. All names must be unique and can be up to 50 characters.

3. Schedule: This column shows the days and times determined in the differential setup.

4. Employees: This column shows the number of employees assigned to this differential. Click on the number to see who is in the differential.

5. Rate: This column shows the percentage or dollar amount that the employees earns by working this shift.

6. Archive: The Archive button allows you to file away shift differentials if they are not in use. If you unarchive a differential, the original employees will be assigned this differential. If those employees have been assigned to a conflicting differential, you'll have a chance to remedy this before restoring the archived differential.

7. Delete: This removes the differential from the shift differential settings. However, any data relating to this differential will still be available on the employee's timesheet and in the following reports: Payroll Hours Input, Wages & Hours, Payroll Register, Payroll Register with Hours, and Complete Summary. If you delete a differential, we recommend changing the name before deleting (i.e. Overnight - DELETE), as you will not be able to set up a new differential with the same name as a deleted differential in the future.

When employees work during a differential period:

• Their timesheet (web or mobile) shows the Shift Name with a $ icon next to affected hours.
• Totals appear similar to Holiday hours, showing both hours worked and the differential rate.

Default Access

• Full Admins and Account Owners can manage shift differentials automatically.

Custom Access

Access can be granted through Settings > Access Levels > What Can People with this Access Level Do? > Time Tracking:

• Check Manage Shift Differentials (and optionally Manage Project Tracking).
• Or enable Time Tracking Settings, which includes both permissions.

For more information about granting custom access to shift differentials, click here.

• Shift Differentials in BambooHR Payroll
• Access Options for Time Tracking
• Project Tracking
• Creating Custom Access Levels and Use Cases