The Lucity Work system tracks the costs associated with each Work Order Resource in order to determine the total cost of performing the work. Employee and Equipment Resources are typically measured by the amount of time they are engaged in the work. However, the process of accounting for this time may vary, depending on factors such as:
Is this standard work?
Is this work performed in excess of standard expectations?
Is this billable work?
Does this work represent time the employee was on-call for emergencies?
Lucity enables agencies to accommodate variations in rates by establishing different Time Costs. Time Costs can be calculated using either of two methods:
Multiplier Time Costs apply a multiplier to the resource's Unit Cost. This strategy is useful for calculating time-and-a-half or double-time. There are several multiplier time costs built into the system by default.
Example: An employee is normally paid $10 an hour. Any work time in excess of 40 hours per week is considered paid overtime, which is compensated at 1.5 hours of pay for one hour of work (time-and-a-half). The "Overtime" Time Cost option multiplies an employee's Unit Cost (here, her hourly rate) by 1.5 before multiplying it by her overtime hours.
Straight Time Costs set a flat rate that overrides the resource's Unit Cost. This strategy could be used to establish a fixed pay rate, like those some organizations apply to on-call work.
Example: An employee is normally paid $10 per hour. However, the employee is also on-call two days per month. Should they be called in, they are paid a straight $25 per hour for their on-call work. The straight "On Call" Time Cost multiplies their on-call work hours by $25.
Predefined Multiplier Time Costs
The following Time Codes are predefined in Lucity and used in Work Order calculations:
Time Cost
Definition
Regular Time
Represents the standard time spent working. Lucity treats Regular Time as the default Time Cost.
Predefined as Time Cost Code|Text:1|Regular Time.
An agency can customize the term used for Regular Time (that is, the Time Code Text) ; however, Lucity will always usethe Time Cost record with a Time Code of 1 to determine a Work Order resource's Regular Unit Cost.
Overtime
Represents work performed outside of regular hours.
Predefined as Time Cost Code|Text:2|Overtime.
An agency can customize the term used for Overtime (that is, the Time Code Text) ; however, Lucity will always usethe Time Cost record with a Time Code of 2 to determine a Work Order resource's OT Unit Cost.
External Regular Time
Represents work performed during regular hours for an external agency.
Predefined as Time Cost Code|Text:3|External Regular Time.
An agency can use a Time Code other than 3 to represent this type of work; however, Lucity will always look for the Time Cost record with the Time Code Text of External Regular Time to determine a Work Order resource's Regular External Rate.
External Overtime
Represents work performed outside of regular hours for an external agency.
Predefined as Time Cost Code|Text:4|External Overtime.
An agency can use a Time Code other than 4 to represent this type of work; however, Lucity will look for the Time Cost record with the Time Code Text of External Overtime to determine a Work Order resource's External Overtime Rate.
Note:Lucity administrators can change the default Multiplier Units for any of Lucity's predefined Time Costs using the Time Cost Setup module. They can also set up custom Time Costs.
More information about how Time Costs relate to Equipment Cost fields
Custom Multiplier Time Costs
Administrators can create Time Costs—each with a unique Time Cost Code, Text, and Multiplier—to meet their agency's needs. Agencies, should not, however, reuse any built-in codes/descriptions listed above.
In the Work > Administration >Timecost Setup module, click the button.
Assign a Time Code for the new option. (Required and must be unique.)
Provide a descriptive label for the option using the Time Code Text field.
Enter the desired number in the Multiplier Units field. A resource's Unit Cost will be multiplied by the factor entered here.
Note that the Straight Time Units field is deactivated when the user enters a Multiplier Unit.
Specify the Financial Hour Type, if applicable. (Applies only to agencies that use Eden financial software.)
Click the button to save the record. The new Time Cost option appears in the grid.
Custom Straight-Time Time Costs
Agencies can create custom Time Costs that represent a set or static cost per unit. When a user applies a straight-time Time Cost, the system simply overwrites the resource's Unit Cost.
How to create a custom Multiplier Time Cost
button.
button to save the record. The new Time Cost option appears in the grid.