ShiftPay: accurate wages for three thousand shift workers, every month, without a week of payroll chaos
A manufacturing group with thousands of shift workers across plants calculated wages from biometric exports, contractor registers and spreadsheets — and every payroll run produced disputes. We built ShiftPay: shift rostering, attendance from biometric devices, overtime and statutory compliance, contractor worker management, payroll and a worker app for payslips and advances.
Payroll week and the queue at the HR window
Every month, after wages were paid, a queue formed at ShiftPay's HR window. Workers disputed overtime, missing days and deductions. HR spent a week calculating wages from biometric exports, contractor registers and shift changes recorded on paper, and another week resolving disputes.
“Workers don't mind hard shifts. They mind being paid wrongly for them.”
Inside the plants
We visited plants across shifts. Biometric devices recorded punches, but shift swaps, double shifts and night allowances were tracked by supervisors on paper. Contract workers were managed by labour contractors with their own registers. Statutory rules for overtime, minimum wages and contributions varied and changed.
- Shift swaps recorded on paper
- Overtime calculated by hand
- Contract workers outside the main system
- Workers unable to see their own attendance
One source of truth from roster to payslip
ShiftPay starts with the roster: supervisors plan shifts and record swaps in an app. Biometric punches are matched to rostered shifts automatically, and overtime, allowances and statutory rules are applied by a rules engine. Contract workers are managed in the same system through a contractor portal.
Workers see their attendance, overtime and payslips in an app in their language, so most disputes are resolved before payroll runs rather than after.
The team
A payroll compliance specialist validated rules alongside the engineers.
HR workshops and plant rollouts.
Statutory rules and validation.
Worker app, roster app and HR console.
Payroll engine, rules and contractor portal.
Worker and supervisor apps.
6 people in total, working as one team.
Decisions we made
Agreed with the HR head, finance and plant managers.
Punches alone or punches against rosters?
- Use biometric punches only
- Match punches to rostered shifts
Our call: Match punches to rostered shifts. Rosters explained swaps, double shifts and allowances that punches alone could not.
Contract workers in or out?
- Contractors handle their own payroll
- Contract workers managed in ShiftPay
Our call: Contract workers managed in ShiftPay. Including them ensured statutory compliance and fair treatment across the workforce.
Switch immediately?
- Immediate switch
- Parallel payroll cycle per plant
Our call: Parallel payroll cycle per plant. Wages must be right. A parallel run proved accuracy first.
Every feature, module by module
Everything that shipped for HR, supervisors, contractors and workers.
- 01Attendance calendar
Daily attendance and shifts.
- 02Overtime view
Overtime hours as they accrue.
- 03Digital payslips
Payslips in the worker's language.
- 04Advance requests
Salary advances with approval.
- 05Leave requests
Apply and track leave.
- 06Shift rostering
Plan shifts by line and skill.
- 07Shift swaps
Record swaps and double shifts.
- 08Attendance exceptions
Resolve missing punches.
- 09Headcount view
Present versus planned per shift.
- 10Biometric integration
Punches imported from devices.
- 11Rules engine
Overtime, allowances and minimum wages.
- 12Statutory deductions
Contributions calculated correctly.
- 13Payroll run workflow
Lock, review, approve and pay.
- 14Bank payout files
Salary files for the bank.
- 15Statutory reports
Returns and registers generated.
- 16Contractor portal
Contract workers and compliance documents.
- 17Contractor billing
Bills checked against attendance.
- 18HR dashboards
Attendance, overtime and cost by plant.
- 19Role-based access
Workers, supervisors, HR, contractors and finance.
- 20Audit trail
Every attendance and payroll change recorded.
Rollout
One plant ran ShiftPay in parallel with the old process for a payroll cycle. Differences were traced one by one — most to errors in the manual process. The other plants followed, each after a parallel run.
- Weeks 1–3Discovery
Plants visited across shifts; payroll process mapped.
- Weeks 4–5Rules and design
Statutory rules and apps designed.
- Weeks 6–14Build
Rostering, attendance, payroll and apps.
- Weeks 15–17Parallel payroll
One plant, one full cycle.
- Weeks 18–20All plants
Each after its own parallel run.
What we learned
Show workers their data before payday. Visibility prevented disputes instead of resolving them.
Start from the roster. Accurate wages depend on knowing which shift each person was meant to work.
- Next.js
- React Native
- NestJS
- PostgreSQL
- Biometric device integration
- Statutory compliance rules engine
- Bank payout files
- AWS Mumbai
