If a pay total looks unexpected, this article will help you understand why. Payroll rules are the logic Florence uses to calculate pay automatically — things like when overtime applies, how bank holiday shifts are uplifted, and what counts as a night shift.

These rules are set up during your onboarding and run in the background each time payroll is processed. You won't usually need to think about them, but knowing how they work makes it much easier to spot and explain any unusual figures.

The default hourly rate applied to all regular working hours. Every staff member must have a Standard rate configured on their profile.

Applied when a staff member works beyond their contracted hours in a given period (e.g. per day or per week). The threshold is set during onboarding — for example, anything over 8 hours in a day or 37.5 hours in a week. Hours above the threshold are paid at the overtime rate set on the individual's profile.

Automatically applied to shifts that fall on a UK bank holiday. Florence holds a calendar of standard bank holidays; you can add custom holidays during onboarding. Shifts on these dates are paid at the bank holiday rate configured on the staff member's profile.

Applied to hours worked within a defined night period (e.g. between 22:00 and 06:00). The specific window is configured during onboarding. Hours that fall within this window are paid at the night rate on the staff member's profile.

Florence calculates holiday pay entitlement for bank staff based on hours worked. This accrues automatically and is visible in the Accrual Report. See the Accrual Report article for details.

How Florence works out what to pay

When a payroll run is processed, Florence checks each shift in this order:

1. Is this a bank holiday? → If yes, the bank holiday rate applies.

2. Do any hours fall in the night window? → If yes, those hours are split out and paid at the night rate.

3. Has the worker exceeded their contracted hours? → If yes, overtime applies to the extra hours.

4. Everything else → paid at the standard rate.

You can see this breakdown in the payroll export, each rule type appears as a separate line per staff member.

The resulting breakdown is visible in the payroll export CSV, where each rule type appears as a separate line per staff member.

If you need to update a rule — for example, your overtime threshold has changed or you want to add a new bank holiday uplift, just contact the Florence support team and we'll take care of it.