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Editing pay after a run is locked (pay instruction)

After Approve & lock, adjust hours or amounts on the locked run — SafeShift keeps its computed record beside what you chose to pay.

A locked payroll run is SafeShift's computed record — hours, premiums and tips exactly as recorded. Sometimes what you actually pay differs: a manager-approved half day, a bonus not entered in time, a premium you're settling separately. The pay instruction lets you type those amounts on the locked run without touching the record. Both stay on file forever: what SafeShift computed, and what you instructed us to pay.

  1. 1

    Approve & lock the run

    The pay instruction appears only on an approved run (Pay & Tips → Payroll). Drafts don't have one — fix punches and re-run a draft instead; nothing here changes shifts, breaks or violations.

  2. 2

    Edit hours or amounts inline

    The Pay instruction register shows one row per person — Paid hrs first (regular + overtime + double time, read-only, the same figure the Time Entries report calls Paid Hrs), then the earning columns. Hours columns (regular, overtime, double time, sick/PTO) take hours — the amount follows at the person's rate, shown under the cell. Dollar columns (premiums, tips, other, adjustments) take amounts. The computed value stays in grey beneath any edited cell; clear a cell to restore it. Expand a row (▸) to see each individual line, add a note, or edit when a person has two lines of the same kind. Press Save (or Enter) to record the changes.

  3. 3

    Adjust this payment: add a line

    Adjust this payment puts an extra line on this payment only — an employee and an earning type, then hours (regular, overtime, sick, PTO — priced at the person's rate on file) or an amount (a premium, a correction, an adjustment). Bonuses, commissions and retro pay are not offered here on purpose: they are real earnings that belong under Other earnings, where SafeShift records them, reprices overtime and pays them on the next run.

  4. 4

    Watch the "paying less than recorded" chip

    If an employee would receive fewer hours, less wage pay, fewer break or split-shift premiums, or less credit-card tips than SafeShift recorded, their row gets a red paying less than recorded chip and the line is marked. Nothing is blocked — it's your call — but the flag is stored with the submission and shown to the payroll team.

  5. 5

    Submit with one acknowledgment

    When you Submit to SafeShift Payroll (or Mark as paid), the dialog shows how many edits you made and the as-paid total beside the computed one. With edits present you confirm one acknowledgment that the differences are your company's decision. Every submission is numbered; the exact wording you confirmed is kept with it.

  6. 6

    Recall if you need to change something

    While our payroll team hasn't started on the run, Recall & edit reopens the pay instruction; re-submitting creates the next version. Self-serve accounts can recall within 7 days of marking a run paid. Once processing has started, ask the team to send the run back, or void it and re-run.

Good to know

  • Exports follow the instruction: once submitted with edits, the ADP file, detail CSV and PDF render as paid by default; the export menu lets you pick the computed record instead. The Pay instruction audit (PDF) lists every edit with its computed value, who made it, and the acknowledgment as confirmed — the evidence document, separate from the register.
  • Edits never feed prior-period corrections — the delta gate compares later data changes with the computed record, so a manual adjustment here is never clawed back or doubled automatically.
  • There are no per-edit reasons to fill in. The audit is automatic: computed value, typed value, who and when.

If something goes wrong

Does editing here change hours on the Compliance or Shifts pages?

No. The pay instruction is a payment record only. Punches, break logs, violations and the locked run stay exactly as they were.

I don't see the Pay instruction card.

It appears on approved, unvoided runs only. If the run was submitted, it's read-only until you recall it (while the team hasn't started).

What does the payroll team see?

The as-paid amounts you submitted, the count of edits, any below-record flags and your acknowledgment — read-only. They never edit your instruction; they send the run back if something needs a change.

Related guides

See also