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💰 PayChecker
Tracking Shifts

Tracking Shifts

Learn how to accurately track your shifts and premium time in PayChecker to ensure proper pay verification.

Understanding Shift Types

PayChecker supports three main shift types, each with specific rules:

Regular Shift

A Regular shift is your normal work schedule.

Characteristics:

  • Standard work day (e.g., 07:00-15:00)
  • Can include premium time (OJTI, CIC, overtime)
  • Most common shift type

When to use:

  • Normal work days
  • Days with standard hours
  • Shifts where you worked your regular schedule

Example:

Date: January 6, 2025
Type: Regular
Time: 07:00 - 15:00
Premium: 2 hours OJTI (07:00-09:00)

TOS (Time Off Station)

TOS represents overtime or credit hours earned.

Characteristics:

  • Entire shift dedicated to overtime work
  • Automatically creates full-shift TOS entry
  • Can include OJTI or CIC during the TOS period
  • Cannot add additional TOS entries

When to use:

  • Overtime shifts on days off
  • Full shifts of overtime work
  • Credit hours earned beyond regular schedule

Sub-types:

  • Overtime - Time worked beyond regular schedule
  • Credit Hours Earned - Flexible credit hours accumulated

Example:

Date: January 7, 2025 (normally an RDO)
Type: TOS
Sub-type: Overtime
Time: 15:00 - 19:00

TNW (Time Not Worked)

TNW represents time you were not working.

Characteristics:

  • Entire shift is non-work time
  • Automatically creates full-shift TNW entry
  • Cannot include premium time (OJTI, CIC, TOS)
  • Premium time options disabled

When to use:

  • Annual leave days
  • Sick leave days
  • Furlough periods
  • Administrative leave
  • Government shutdown periods

Sub-types:

  • Annual Leave
  • Sick Leave
  • Credit Hours Used
  • Comp Time Used
  • Furlough
  • LWOP (Leave Without Pay)
  • Administrative Leave
  • Military Leave
  • Holiday Leave
  • Government Shutdown
  • Other

Example:

Date: January 8, 2025
Type: TNW
Sub-type: Annual Leave
Time: 07:00 - 15:00

RDO (Regular Day Off)

RDO is your scheduled day off.

Characteristics:

  • No shift entry needed
  • Represented by absence of shift record
  • Not tracked in database

When to use:

  • Your scheduled days off
  • No work performed
  • No leave taken

Adding a Shift

Step 1: Navigate to Pay Period

  1. Log in to PayChecker
  2. Click on "Pay Periods" tab
  3. Select the pay period containing the shift date
  4. Click on the specific date or "Add Shift" button

Step 2: Enter Shift Details

For Regular Shift:

  1. Select date from calendar
  2. Choose shift type: "Regular"
  3. Enter start time (24-hour format, e.g., 07:00)
  4. Enter end time (e.g., 15:00)
  5. Click "Save"

For TOS Shift:

  1. Select date
  2. Choose shift type: "TOS"
  3. Select sub-type: "Overtime" or "Credit Hours Earned"
  4. Enter start and end times
  5. Click "Save"

For TNW Shift:

  1. Select date
  2. Choose shift type: "TNW"
  3. Select sub-type (e.g., "Annual Leave")
  4. Enter start and end times (usually your normal shift hours)
  5. Click "Save"

Step 3: Verify Shift Created

  • Shift appears in the pay period grid
  • Times displayed correctly
  • Type indicator shows (Regular, TOS, or TNW)
  • Date highlighted in calendar

Adding Premium Time

OJTI Time

What is OJTI? On-the-Job Training Instructor time qualifies for premium pay when you train other controllers.

How to add:

  1. Click on the shift (must be Regular or TOS)
  2. Click "Add OJTI Time"
  3. Enter start time (e.g., 07:00)
  4. Enter end time (e.g., 09:00)
  5. Click "Save"

Rules:

  • Must be within shift start/end times
  • Can have multiple OJTI entries per shift
  • Cannot add to TNW shifts
  • Times cannot overlap

Example:

Shift: 07:00 - 15:00
OJTI Entry 1: 07:00 - 09:00 (2 hours)
OJTI Entry 2: 13:00 - 15:00 (2 hours)
Total OJTI: 4 hours

CIC Time

What is CIC? Controller-in-Charge time qualifies for premium pay when you serve as CIC.

How to add:

  1. Click on the shift (must be Regular or TOS)
  2. Click "Add CIC Time"
  3. Enter start and end times
  4. Click "Save"

Rules:

  • Must be within shift start/end times
  • Can have multiple CIC entries per shift
  • Cannot add to TNW shifts
  • Times cannot overlap

Example:

Shift: 07:00 - 15:00
CIC Entry: 11:00 - 15:00 (4 hours)

Overtime (TOS Entry)

What is overtime? Time worked beyond your regular schedule, typically compensated at a higher rate.

How to add to Regular shift:

  1. Click on the regular shift
  2. Click "Add TOS Entry"
  3. Select sub-type: "Overtime"
  4. Enter start time (typically after shift ends, e.g., 15:00)
  5. Enter end time (e.g., 17:00)
  6. Click "Save"

How to create full TOS shift:

  1. Click "Add Shift"
  2. Select shift type: "TOS"
  3. Select sub-type: "Overtime"
  4. Enter full shift times
  5. Click "Save"

Example (overtime after regular shift):

Shift: 07:00 - 15:00 (Regular)
TOS Entry: 15:00 - 17:00 (2 hours overtime)

Credit Hours

What are credit hours? Flexible hours that can be earned and used under certain conditions.

Earning credit hours:

  1. Create TOS shift or entry
  2. Select sub-type: "Credit Hours Earned"
  3. Enter times

Using credit hours:

  1. Create TNW shift
  2. Select sub-type: "Credit Hours Used"
  3. Enter times

Editing Shifts

Edit Shift Details

  1. Click on the shift
  2. Click "Edit" button
  3. Modify fields (date, type, times)
  4. Click "Save"

Note: Changing shift type triggers automatic cleanup:

  • Changing to TNW deletes all premium time (OJTI, CIC, TOS)
  • Changing from TOS deletes auto-created TOS entry
  • Changing from TNW deletes auto-created TNW entry

Edit Premium Time

  1. Click on the shift
  2. Click on the premium time entry
  3. Click "Edit"
  4. Modify times
  5. Click "Save"

Delete Shift

  1. Click on the shift
  2. Click "Delete" button
  3. Confirm deletion

Warning: Deleting a shift cascades to all related premium time entries. This action cannot be undone.

Delete Premium Time

  1. Click on the shift
  2. Click on the premium time entry
  3. Click "Delete"
  4. Confirm deletion

Bulk Operations

Copy Previous Week

If your schedule repeats weekly:

  1. Navigate to target week
  2. Click "Copy From Previous Week"
  3. Review copied shifts
  4. Adjust as needed
  5. Click "Confirm"

Clear Pay Period

To start over for a pay period:

  1. Navigate to pay period
  2. Click "Clear Period"
  3. Warning: This deletes ALL shifts and premium time
  4. Confirm deletion

Viewing Your Data

Grid View

Pay Period Grid:

  • See all shifts for the pay period
  • Color-coded by type (Regular, TOS, TNW)
  • Click date to add shift
  • Click shift to view details

Legend:

  • 🟢 Regular shift
  • 🔵 TOS shift
  • 🟡 TNW shift
  • ⚪ RDO (no entry)

Summary View

Pay Period Summary:

  • Total hours by category
  • Breakdown of regular, OJTI, CIC, overtime
  • Leave hours used
  • Quick verification check

Example Summary:

Pay Period 01 (2025)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Regular Hours:    80.0
OJTI Hours:        4.0
CIC Hours:         2.0
Overtime Hours:    3.0
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Total Worked:     89.0 hours

Detail View

Click on any shift to see:

  • Shift date and type
  • Start and end times
  • All premium time entries with times
  • Created/updated timestamps
  • Edit and delete options

Best Practices

Track in Real-Time

Don't wait:

  • Enter shifts as you work them
  • Add premium time immediately
  • Update as changes happen
  • Maintain current records

Why it matters:

  • More accurate verification
  • Easier to remember details
  • Better documentation for disputes
  • Less time spent at end of pay period

Double-Check Entries

Before verifying pay:

  • Review all shift dates
  • Verify start/end times are correct
  • Ensure premium time is accurate
  • Check for missing shifts
  • Confirm totals make sense

Keep External Records

Backup documentation:

  • Screenshot your entries weekly
  • Export data at end of pay period
  • Keep email approvals for overtime
  • Save facility shift schedules

Use Consistent Format

Time entry:

  • Always use 24-hour format (07:00, not 7am)
  • Be consistent with rounding
  • Use exact times when possible
  • Match facility records

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Wrong shift type

  • Using Regular when should be TOS
  • Using TOS when overtime is part of regular shift
  • Forgetting to change type when schedule changes

Mistake 2: Overlapping times

  • Premium time outside shift hours
  • OJTI and CIC overlapping
  • Multiple TOS entries when only one allowed

Mistake 3: Missing RDOs

  • Adding shifts for RDOs (unnecessary)
  • Using TNW for RDOs (incorrect)
  • RDOs need NO entry

Mistake 4: Incorrect premium time

  • Adding premium to TNW shifts (not allowed)
  • Forgetting to add OJTI/CIC
  • Wrong start/end times

Mistake 5: Not tracking immediately

  • Waiting until end of pay period
  • Relying on memory
  • Missing shifts or premium time

Troubleshooting

Can't add premium time

  • Check shift type (must be Regular or TOS)
  • Verify times are within shift bounds
  • Ensure no overlapping entries

Shift won't save

  • Check for validation errors
  • Ensure times are valid format (HH:MM)
  • Verify date is within pay period
  • Check for duplicate shifts on same date

Premium time disappeared

  • Check if shift type was changed to TNW
  • Verify shift wasn't deleted
  • Check you're viewing correct pay period

Times showing incorrectly

  • Ensure 24-hour format
  • Check for AM/PM confusion
  • Verify timezone settings

For more help, see Troubleshooting.

Related Documentation

Accurate shift tracking is the foundation of reliable pay verification. Take a few minutes each day to keep your records current.

Verifying Your PayTroubleshooting