Determining the highest rate using system defaults

Because no configuration exists to determine which weekly rates to compare to arrive at the highest rate to pay annual leave, the Affinity system will instead use default calculations. You will need to follow this process to check/get the highest rate:

Check if the pay element (if it exists) is configured to pay at annual leave rates.
Check if the award is configured to use standard hours or worked hours.
The system-default highest rate is an hourly rate determined by comparing AWE vs OWP4 vs rate 1 where:
- AWE = the hourly rate calculated from the pay period immediately prior to the leave being paid.
- OWP4 = the hourly rate calculated from the pay period immediately prior to the leave being paid.
- Rate 1 = the employee's rate 1 that is in effect when the leave is being paid.
If you need more information about how the hourly AWE and OWP4 rates are calculated, click the options below.
Compare the three hourly rates to determine which one is the highest, then use this rate to calculate the annual leave payment to the employee.

If annual leave type is managed in hours

If Affinity is configured to manage annual leave in hours, annual leave will be paid using this calculation:

Highest hourly rate (from step 5 above) * the units to pay

If annual leave is managed in days

If Affinity is configured to manage annual leave in days, annual leave will be paid using this calculation:

Highest hourly rate (from step 5 above) * hours of leave taken

The annual leave rate stored in the Highest AL Rate field in the leave history masterfile is calculated like this:

Highest hourly rate (from step 5 above) * standard hours per day when the payroll was processed

And when annual leave is paid, Affinity will calculate the payment like this:

Highest AL Rate field value from the period immediately prior to the leave being paid / standard hours per day from the period immediately prior to the leave being paid * hours of leave taken

If the employee does not work the same hours each day, the daily rate stored in the Highest AL Rate field might need to be manually recalculated to arrive at the correct daily rate. Here's the process:

Check if the result of the system-default calculation is higher than the employee's rate 1 at the time of pay processing. If it's less than rate 1, use rate 1. If it's higher than rate 1, use the result of the calculation.
Take the result in step 1 of this process and multiply it by the employee's scheduled hours on the day annual leave was taken.
Multiply the result in step 2 of this process by the units to pay the employee.

Calculating NZ leave payments

Table of contents

Which leave type?