Note: Available on the Start, Grow, and Optimize plans. You need the Payroll Organization Admin role to change an employee's payroll instruction settings.

Some payments and deductions need a ceiling. An RRSP match that stops at the plan's annual limit. A payroll advance that is repaid over several pay runs and then stops. A garnishment that can only take so much from any one cheque. In Rise Payroll, you set these ceilings on the employee's own copy of the payroll instruction, in the Instruction Behaviour section.

There are two kinds of maximum, and the labels on screen don't make the difference obvious. Here is what each one means.

The two options that begin with "...and" belong to the second maximum, even though they sit on their own lines. They decide how Rise counts toward the total.

Where to set a maximum

Maximums are set per employee. The organization-wide instruction has no maximum setting.

1. Open the employee's payroll profile and click the Payroll Instructions tab.
2. Find the instruction. If it isn't listed, click Add Payroll Instruction or Show disabled payroll instructions.
3. Click Apply Employee Override, or Edit if the employee already has an override.
4. Scroll to Instruction Behaviour.

The section appears for earnings, benefits, and deductions you or Rise created. It is not available on statutory instructions such as CPP, EI, and income tax, which already follow their legal maximums.

Each maximum belongs to one employee and one instruction. If a plan has an employee portion and an employer portion set up as two instructions, such as an RRSP contribution and the employer match, each instruction gets its own cap. There is no way to cap the two combined.

For the other settings on this screen, see Manage payroll setup for an employee.

Cap a single pay run

Check Shall not exceed the payroll maximum amount and enter a dollar amount.

On every pay run, Rise calculates the instruction as usual, from the input sheet value or the formula, then compares the result to your maximum. If the result is higher, Rise pays or deducts the maximum instead. The next pay run starts fresh.

Example. A garnishment is capped at $250 per pay run. The input sheet reads $300. Rise deducts $250. On the next pay run, another $300 on the input sheet is again reduced to $250.

Good uses: a garnishment or support order with a per-cheque limit, a percentage-based deduction that must not exceed a fixed dollar amount, or a variable earning such as mileage that has a per-pay ceiling.

Things to know:

• The cap covers the whole pay run. If the employee has the instruction in more than one department, the department amounts are added together and compared to the maximum. When the total is over, each department's amount is reduced in proportion.
• The cap applies after the formula runs, so a deduction set to a percentage of net pay can still be held to a fixed dollar amount.
• The input sheet keeps the value you entered. The reduced amount shows on the pay run register and the employee's pay stub, and the Pay Run Errors and Warnings report lists the instruction and the maximum it was held to.

Cap the total over time

Check Is reduced or set to zero when it exceeds, enter the total you want to stop at, then pick one of the two "...and" options below it.

Rise keeps a running balance of everything this instruction has paid or deducted for the employee. On each pay run it works out how much room is left under the maximum. If the pay run amount fits, it goes through in full. If it would push the total over, Rise reduces it to fill the remaining room exactly. Once the balance reaches the maximum, the instruction calculates as $0 on every following pay run until the balance resets.

Example. An employee is repaying a $1,200 advance at $250 per pay run. Runs one to four deduct $250 each, for $1,000 in total. Run five is reduced to $200, bringing the balance to $1,200. From run six on, the deduction is $0.

Pick how the total is counted

...and the amount is accumulated year to date. The balance resets to zero on January 1. Choose this for anything with an annual limit: an employer RRSP or pension match, a wellness or tuition allowance, a benefit capped per year.

...and the amount is accumulated since last balance reset. The balance keeps growing until you reset it. Year-end changes nothing. Choose this for a fixed total that isn't tied to a year: repaying an advance or loan, a garnishment with a set amount owing, a one-time fee collected over several pay runs.

See where the balance stands

Each option has an Accrual Balance Details link beside it. It opens the employee's accrual journal for this instruction, so you can see every pay run that counted toward the total and the current balance. In the journal, the balance appears as its own accrual policy, named YTD Dollars - [instruction name] for a year-to-date maximum or AM Dollars - [instruction name] for a since-last-reset maximum.

Reset the balance

The Reset Accrual Balance button takes the running balance back to zero. Rise records the reset as a journal entry dated today, so the history stays intact. Use it to start a new cycle on a since-last-reset maximum, for example, when an employee takes a second advance after paying off the first.

Warning: Resetting the balance reopens the full maximum. If the instruction is still on the input sheet, it starts paying or deducting again on the next pay run.

Use both maximums together

You can check both boxes. Rise applies the single-pay-run cap first, then the total cap. A garnishment could be limited to $200 per pay run and stopped once $3,000 has been collected. An employer match could be capped at $150 per pay run and at $3,600 for the year.

Apply a maximum to many employees

There is no organization-level setting that puts the same cap on everyone. If you need a cap across a large group, contact Rise Support to set it for your existing employees in bulk. Note that anyone hired after that would need the maximum added to their profile individually.

Only amounts processed through Rise Payroll count toward the running balance.

Related articles

• Manage payroll setup for an employee
• Add payroll instructions
• Create a deduction pay code
• Create an earning pay code
• Create a benefit pay code