Basic Info — Policy Name & Basic Settings
What this tab does: This is where you name your policy, set its start date, and configure the fundamental overtime rules — what type of compensation employees receive, how payment is calculated, and what happens with auto-generated requests.
What You'll See
When you click + Add on the listing page, the form opens with the Basic Info tab selected (highlighted in blue). This is always the first step in creating an overtime policy.
Visual Reference: The top section shows 6 tabs (in Advanced Mode) or just 1 tab (in Basic Mode). The form below is split into two columns — left side has policy details and system settings, right side has the overtime payment configuration.
Fields on This Tab
Left Column — Policy Details
📝 Policy Name (required)
Give your policy a clear, descriptive name so it's easy to identify later.
Examples of good names:
- "Engineering Team — Weekday OT Policy"
- "Operations Overtime — All Days"
- "Extra Working Policy — Night Shift"
💡 Tip: Include the team name or shift type in the policy name. Avoid generic names like "Policy 1" — you'll thank yourself later when managing multiple policies.
📅 Policy Starts From (required)
Pick the month and year from which this policy becomes effective. The date picker defaults to the current month (e.g., "Mar-2026").
What this means: Any overtime hours worked by assigned employees from this month onward will be calculated using this policy's rules.
⚠️ Note: This cannot be backdated to apply retroactively to previous months' payroll that has already been processed.
📄 Description (optional)
A free-text area to add notes about the policy. This is purely for internal reference and is not visible to employees.
Example: "Applies to all warehouse staff. Approved by HR Head on 15-Mar-2026. Review quarterly."
⚙️ When requests are automatically generated by system
This section controls how the system handles overtime requests that are auto-generated based on attendance data (i.e., when an employee works beyond their shift and the system detects it automatically).
Two settings here:
| Setting | What It Does | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Auto re-generate previously rejected requests | If a manager rejects an auto-generated OT request, should the system create a new one if the employee works overtime again? | Toggle ON/OFF (default: OFF) |
| For invalid requests automatically | When shift or work hours are modified after an OT request was generated, what should the system do with the now-invalid request? | Reject (default) or Delete |
💡 Tip for HR Admins:
- Keep "Auto re-generate" OFF if your managers want full control over approvals.
- Choose Reject over Delete for invalid requests if you want to maintain an audit trail.
Right Column — Basic Overtime Policy
💰 For extra working hours, Employee get
Choose the type of compensation employees receive for overtime:
| Option | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Overtime (default, highlighted in blue) | Employee receives additional monetary payment in their payroll |
| Compensatory Off/Pay | Employee earns time-off credits (comp-offs) instead of cash. They can use these to take leave later |
🔄 Important — Switching between these changes the entire form! Selecting "Compensatory Off/Pay" transforms the remaining fields AND changes which tabs appear at the top. The "Overtime" tab (Tab 5) gets replaced by a "Compensatory Off" tab. See details for each variant below.
🔵 Variant A: "Overtime" Selected (Default)
When Overtime is selected, the following fields appear in the right column:
⏱️ Minimum extra working required (required)
Enter the minimum number of minutes an employee must work beyond their shift hours before it qualifies as overtime.
Input: A number in the "Minutes" field, followed by the label "beyond shift hours"
Example: If you set this to 30, an employee must work at least 30 minutes beyond their shift end time before the system counts it as overtime. If they work only 20 extra minutes, it won't be recorded.
💡 Why this matters: This prevents small clock-out delays (like 5-10 minutes) from being flagged as overtime, reducing noise for managers and payroll.
💵 Overtime payment based on
Choose how the overtime rate is calculated:
| Option | How It Calculates |
|---|---|
| Fixed | A flat rupee amount per overtime hour/day (regardless of salary) |
| % Of Basic | Overtime rate = a percentage of the employee's Basic salary |
| % Of Gross | Overtime rate = a percentage of the employee's Gross salary |
| % Of CTC | Overtime rate = a percentage of the employee's Cost to Company |
💡 Most common choice: "% Of Basic" — this is the standard method used by most organizations as it aligns with statutory overtime calculation norms.
📊 Rate of payment % (required)
Enter the percentage used to calculate the overtime rate.
Example: If you selected "% Of Basic" above and enter 100 here, the employee's overtime rate per hour = (Basic Salary / Total Working Hours in Month) × 100%.
If you enter 200, they get double their basic hourly rate.
🕐 Hours to consider full day (required)
Enter the number of hours that constitute a "full day" for overtime calculation purposes.
Example: If set to 8, then 8 hours of overtime = 1 full day of overtime pay. This is used when calculating overtime on a per-day basis.
The label says "for per hour rate" — this value is used to derive the hourly rate from the daily rate.
📋 Show overtime payment in monthly payroll under (required)
Select the pay element (salary component) under which overtime payment will appear in the employee's monthly payslip.
How to use: Click the dropdown and select from your organization's configured pay elements. This is where OT pay will show up when the employee views their payslip.
⚠️ Important: Make sure the selected pay element is correctly configured in your Payroll module. If unsure, check with your payroll admin.
🟠 Variant B: "Compensatory Off/Pay" Selected
When you select Compensatory Off/Pay, the right-column fields completely change. A new sub-choice appears:
🔀 Provide extra working compensation as
| Option | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Compensatory Off (default) | Employee earns leave credits (comp-offs) — they can take time off later |
| Compensatory Pay | Employee gets a monetary payment for extra hours, but it's processed as a comp-off line item rather than regular overtime |
🔄 This sub-choice further changes the form. See below for what each sub-variant shows.
🟡 Sub-Variant B1: "Compensatory Off" Selected
Fields shown:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Minimum extra working required | Two "Hours" inputs — "___ for half day & ___ for full day". Set how many extra hours earn a half-day vs. a full-day comp-off |
💡 Example: If half day = 4 hours and full day = 8 hours, an employee working 5 extra hours earns a half-day comp-off. Working 9 extra hours earns a full day.
🟡 Sub-Variant B2: "Compensatory Pay" Selected
Fields shown:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Overtime payment based on | Fixed / % Of Basic / % Of Gross / % Of CTC — same options as the Overtime variant |
| Rate of payment % (or "Rate of payment hourly" if Fixed) | The payment rate |
| Hours to consider full day | Hours for per-hour rate calculation (appears for % options) |
| Show overtime payment in monthly payroll under | Payroll element dropdown |
💡 Key difference from Overtime: The payment structure is nearly identical, but the system categorizes it as "compensatory pay" rather than "overtime" for reporting and compliance purposes.
🔀 How Your Choice Here Affects Other Tabs
| Your Choice | Tab 5 Becomes | What It Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime | "Overtime — Define Overtime Rules" | Max OT hours, payment basis, rate %, payroll element |
| Compensatory Off/Pay | "Compensatory Off — Define Comp Off Rules" | Leave calendar, max leaves, sandwich rules, encashment |
| (Mixed — different per day type) | Both tabs appear (7 tabs total) | Overtime rules AND Comp-Off rules configured separately |
Advance Configuration Toggle
At the top-right of the form, you'll see:
🔵 Advance Configuration — Toggle switch (default: OFF)
When you turn this ON, a confirmation dialog appears:
"Advance settings include detailed overtime rules like overtime application on different days like week day, week off, holidays, shift timings, fixed or slabbed allocation etc. Do you want to proceed?"
Click Yes to expand the form to 6 tabs. Click No to stay in Basic Mode.
Once enabled, the toggle changes to "Switch to Basic Policy" — click it to go back to the simplified single-tab view.
⚠️ Warning: Switching from Advanced back to Basic Mode may reset some of the advanced configurations you've already entered. The system will warn you before proceeding.
Action Buttons (Basic Mode)
At the bottom of this tab in Basic Mode, you'll see:
| Button | Color | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| Review Policy | Blue outline | Preview a summary of all settings before submitting |
| Reset | Red | Clears all fields and resets the form to default values |
| Submit | Blue | Saves and activates the policy |
In Advanced Mode, the Basic Info tab shows Reset, Previous (greyed out since this is the first tab), and Next (to proceed to the Week Day tab).
Step-by-Step: Filling Out Basic Info
- Enter a Policy Name — Type a clear, descriptive name
- Set Policy Starts From — Pick the month/year using the calendar picker
- Add a Description (optional) — Notes for your own reference
- Configure auto-request behavior — Set the re-generate and invalid request settings
- Choose compensation type — Overtime (cash) or Compensatory Off/Pay (time-off)
- Set minimum extra working minutes — How much beyond-shift work qualifies
- Choose payment basis — Fixed, % of Basic, Gross, or CTC
- Enter rate of payment % — The multiplier for overtime pay
- Set full-day hours — Hours that equal one full OT day
- Select payroll element — Where OT appears on the payslip
- Click Next (Advanced Mode) or Submit (Basic Mode)
FAQs
Q: What if I don't see the "Advance Configuration" toggle? A: It only appears when you first open the Add form. If you're already in advanced mode, you'll see "Switch to Basic Policy" instead.
Q: Can I change the Policy Starts From date after the policy is already active? A: You can edit it, but changing the effective date won't retroactively recalculate previously processed payroll. It will only affect future calculations.
Q: What happens if I leave "Hours to consider full day" empty? A: This is a required field — the form will show a validation error and won't let you submit until it's filled.
Q: Should I use Fixed or % based payment? A: % Of Basic is the most standard approach and aligns with labor law norms. Use Fixed only if your organization has a specific flat-rate policy for overtime compensation.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Policy Name is required" error | Left the name field empty | Enter a name — this field is mandatory |
| Can't select a past month in "Policy Starts From" | System may restrict backdating | Check with your admin if backdating is allowed in your configuration |
| Payroll element dropdown is empty | No pay elements configured | Go to Payroll Settings and create overtime-related pay elements first |
| "Advance Configuration" toggle not responding | Browser or loading issue | Refresh the page and try again |
| Form shows validation errors on Submit | Required fields not filled | Scroll through the form and fill all fields marked with a red asterisk (*) |