Changing the hourly wage: from when, with a reason, without distorting old months

In three sentences

A change to the hourly wage, monthly salary, weekly target or vacation days creates a new pay rate. The rate applies from the first of a month and needs a reason. Everything before that is still calculated, unchanged, with the rate that applied at the time.

How it works

1. On the left, open Employees and click the person's name.
2. Master data tab, Pay section: enter the new amount.
3. As soon as the amount changes, two additional fields appear: Valid from (a month) and Reason (at least 5 characters).
4. Save changes.

The Rates tab then shows the whole chain: from when which amount applied, with which reason and who entered it. The top entry is the current one.

Why there is a “Valid from”

Previously, the hourly wage was stored exactly once in the master data. Anyone who entered €13.90 in September thereby retroactively changed every figure that had not yet been frozen — including the post-calculation of the July building site. The business suddenly saw different labour costs for a job that had long since been invoiced.

With the valid-from date, every old figure stays as it was. Closed months were already protected (they carry their own snapshot); now the open weeks before are too.

Why only the first of a month: A rate starting on the 15th would mean that the month-end close would have to calculate the same month with two rates. Zeitflex therefore rejects any other date instead of silently rounding to the start of the month.

Retroactively into an open month

That works — with a clear notice. If you choose a month as valid-from that is still open, Zeitflex says after saving:

The rate applies retroactively from 08/2026. The month is still open and will be calculated with the NEW rate when it is closed.

If, on the other hand, the month is locked or exported, the change is rejected:

The month 07/2026 has already been closed (exported). A rate that applies from this month or earlier would change a payroll that the business has already handed over.

That is intentional. A closed month is with the payroll office; calculating it differently afterwards would mean that two versions of the same payroll are in circulation. If something really needs to be paid in arrears, it belongs in the current month — your payroll accountant knows how a back payment is booked.

Why a reason is required

Every time correction has always required a reason. Changing an hourly rate is the more expensive of the two — and was so far the less formal one. The reason then appears in the Change history tab and answers the question that nobody can answer a year later: why the rate is different from this month on.

Good reasons are short and name the occasion: “Collective pay increase as of 01.09.”, “after the probationary period”, “switch from part-time to full-time”.

Who is informed

The person concerned gets a notification on their phone — without the amount, only with the notice that their pay details have changed, and from when. They can see the new status in their own data. A notification on the lock screen is the wrong place for a wage.

The minimum wage notice

If the hourly wage entered is below the statutory minimum wage, Zeitflex points this out and states the value (§ 1 MiLoG (German Minimum Wage Act)). It is saved anyway — apprentices, internships and volunteer work may lawfully be below it. It is a notice, not a prohibition.

If you are thinking about the earnings limit of a mini-job: the limit follows the minimum wage (minimum wage × 130 ÷ 3). More on this under Mini-job limit.

What does NOT change

• Closed months. They carry their figures as a snapshot (hourly rate included) and remain untouched. The payroll export of an old month also still shows the rate that was used at the time.
• Who may see the wage. Owner and shift manager — as before. The person themselves sees their own figures.
• Anonymised accounts. They can no longer be edited (Art. 17 GDPR).

What Zeitflex does NOT do here

No calculation of back pay, no recalculation of old months, no pay scale tables. Zeitflex records which rate applied from when — the payroll itself is done by your payroll accountant.