Say goodbye to unreadable Excel files… Save time and improve efficiency thanks to the automation of annualized hours
Seasonal activity facing working time modulation?
Do you want to master working time modulation?
Provide more visibility to employees for tracking annualized hours
Anticipated rest to avoid overtime at the end of the period
Print the working time modulation schedule
Working time modulation – what is it?
Before explaining how to automate working time modulation using our annual hours tracking software, let’s first define it. Working time modulation is an arrangement for organizing working hours over a 12-month period.
During this 12-month period, employees may experience weeks of high activity or low activity depending on workload peaks.
The purpose of modulation is to organize the employee’s working schedule according to periods of varying business activity.
In summary, working time modulation means that working hours vary depending on activity levels.
This system is regulated by labor law and is based on a collective agreement established within the company.
This modulation agreement defines a structured document that sets out the rules for managing annual working hours, including among other elements:
The number of annual hours the employee must work
The maximum weekly working time, for example, a cap of 48 hours per week
The conditions for triggering overtime
The conditions for compensating or paying overtime at the end of the period, if applicable
The modulation reference period over 12 consecutive months, based on the calendar year or another period
For example, a reference period may run from September of year N to August of year N+1
The types of absences considered as actual working time. Generally, these absences are deducted from the annual hours quota
Concrete example of how modulation works
Based on the modulation agreement, the employer can vary weekly working hours.
The agreement must specify the threshold for triggering paid overtime.
Assuming the overtime threshold is set at 44 hours, any hours below 44 are recorded in a modulation balance.
In other words, periods of high and low activity compensate each other without generating payable overtime.
For example, if the average weekly working time is 35 hours, the modulation system works as follows:
Week 1, hours worked = 30h, modulation credit = -5h
Week 2, hours worked = 40h, modulation credit = +5h
Week 3, hours worked = 45h, modulation credit = +9h... +1h of overtime to be paid, since the overtime threshold is set at 44h
It should be noted that modulation hours may give rise to compensatory time off in order to adjust the modulation schedule.
In all cases, any excess modulation hours at the end of the year are either paid as overtime or carried over into the following period.
To make things easier, our working time modulation tool automates these various time calculations.
How to effectively manage working time modulation?
Working time modulation is an advantageous approach because it optimizes resources by adapting schedules to your company’s activity.
However, its daily management can be complex, as collecting worked hours requires employee involvement and accurate recording of working hours.
The modulation schedule must also include paid leave and absences such as sick leave, parental leave, etc.
Things can become even more complex if the employee changes their contractual working hours.
For example, moving from an average weekly duration of 35h to 28h for an employee working part-time at 80%.
Yes, it becomes very complex when working time modulation is managed manually or using paper-based methods.
To simplify your work, as a working time software publisher, we have chosen to develop a dedicated working time modulation software.
As we support companies in managing working time, we have observed that automating working time modulation has become essential, as few HR software providers address this issue.
Therefore, based on real-life cases, we have compiled different management methods to provide an interface that simplifies tracking of annualized hours.
Even though the management rules for annualized contracts may seem clear, it is evident that not all companies have the same organizational constraints.
For example, within the same company, some employees may have annualized hours while others do not.
More concretely, common situations include:
º Employees with executive status on a day-rate contract, with time tracking by day
º Employees with weekly time tracking, such as 35h, with the possibility of generating overtime
º Employees on annualized contracts with or without compensatory time during the period
This last point is very important as it defines the rules for compensating hours.
Some companies wait until the end of the modulation period to assess and process overtime.
Others allow employees to take compensatory time in advance.
To enable this tracking, our HR solution allows activation of negative overtime to highlight low-activity weeks and high-activity weeks…
These weeks can then be aggregated into an annual counter to display the modulation balance.
In this context, it becomes easy to plan compensatory rest for employees to avoid excessive overtime credit at the end of the period.
Ultimately, with an automation tool, you can simplify the daily management of annualized contracts.
Our HR solution for modulation tracking offers features such as:
Dashboard of annualized hours highlighting planned hours, worked hours, and remaining hours
User interface providing greater transparency for employees in tracking their working time
Time counter ensuring traceability of hours for compensation or payment
Printable annual schedule with weekly or monthly modulation
Annual indicators for working time modulation
Annualization is a form of working time modulation, as working hours are not linear over the full annual period.
Therefore, managing modulation involves human resources planning.
Time tracking is based on a forecasted working time modulation schedule.
In some cases, the modulation agreement may require the implementation of an annualized hours schedule.
This provides visibility of planned working hours for both employees and employers.
In accordance with the annualized employment contract, the modulation schedule must include:
The number of hours to be worked per year, for example: 1607h
The number of calendar days in the year, i.e., 365 days
The number of non-working days, including:
– Weekly rest = 52*2
– Annual paid leave = 25 days
– Public holidays (according to the company’s collective agreement)
Working time modulation simulator
The forecasted working time modulation schedule is designed to fully replace Excel-based tools for tracking hour modulation.
Our tool easily adapts to your modulation reference period, over twelve (12) consecutive months.
This forecast schedule can be used as a working time modulation simulator.
It allows you to quickly visualize the total planned hours based on the reference period.
Some companies using the JOUROFF working time modulation tool also use it as a modulation simulation tool, thanks to the option for entering forecasted hours.
On the interface side, this annual hours simulator displays a “planned hours” line from the very beginning of the period.
In parallel, the “actual hours” line allows you to track worked hours week by week.
This modulation simulator also includes a vacation section corresponding to annual paid leave.
The “other absences” section allows tracking of absences such as sick leave, parental leave, etc.
This simulation tool for working time modulation, structured as a forecast schedule, enables effective tracking of annualized working hours.
Indeed, the forecasted hours component allows simulation of working time modulation calculations.
Rules for calculating working time modulation
The annualization calculation rules make it possible to assign value to actual working days in order to project the annual 1607 hours.
The modulation calculation portal developed by our team allows these rules to be defined easily.
Weekly hours declaration:
(o) From the timesheet, the employee enters their working hours.
(o) From the time tracking dashboard, the portal displays relevant indicators for monitoring modulation.
Remaining hours to work & modulation balance:
These two KPIs are complementary for monitoring working time modulation.
We consider here an employee contract with a weekly working time of 35 hours over three weeks, i.e., a total quota of 105 hours.
1) High modulation weeks:
Remaining hours = 105h – [36h + 36h + 36h] = -3h
Modulation balance = +1h +1h +1h = +3
Comment on the annualization rule:
Remaining hours = -3h indicates that the modulation calculation owes 3 hours to the employee.
It should be noted that these 3 hours are reflected in the modulation balance.
2) Low modulation weeks:
Remaining hours = 105h – [34h + 34h + 34h] = 3h
Modulation balance = -1h -1h -1h = -3
Comment on the calculation rule:
Remaining hours = 3h indicates that the employee owes 3 hours to the company.
It should be noted that these -3 hours are reflected in the working time modulation balance.
3) High weeks including sick leave or work accident:
Remaining hours = 105h – [36h + 36h + 35h (sick leave)] = -2h
Modulation balance = +1h +1h +0h = +2
Comment on the calculation rule:
In this case, the calculation shows that 2 hours are owed to the employee, and this is reflected in the working time modulation balance.
Interpretation of the annualization calculation rule:
It is the cumulative balance of high and low weeks that determines the annual working time balance.
Consideration of paid leave and absences in modulation:
It is important to integrate paid leave into the modulation calculation system.
Our portal provides a dedicated leave tracking module.
However, the modulation dashboard also includes a paid leave annualization tracking module within the working time modulation context.
It is also possible to calculate incomplete-year annualization thanks to the automation provided by our HR portal.
To do so, simply enter the employment start and end dates, and the system automatically values the working days within the incomplete modulation period, which is generally less than 1607 hours.
Working time modulation: negative hours
Our tool highlights negative hours resulting from low-activity weeks.
With a single click, you can enable negative overtime to identify periods where the employee worked below the weekly working time.
However, interpretation must consider the full year, as high-activity weeks generate positive credits.
These high and low weeks offset each other over the year.
At the end of the period, several situations may occur:
Unworked modulation hours
The purpose of the forecast schedule is to avoid such situations with negative balances.
The schedule serves as a reference to better anticipate.
However, unworked hours may result from unexpected drops in activity.
In such cases, the modulation agreement must define rules for recovering hours and conditions for carrying them over.
Adjustment of the counter at the end of the modulation period
To regularize hours at the end of the period, our tool offers an “Adjustment” feature.
A debit or credit adjustment can be applied to the counter at the end of the modulation period.
Discover other application areas of the working time modulation tool
As a working time software, JOUROFF allows you to digitize all time entry and leave request processes.
You can build your HR software according to your company’s needs. Our HR solution can be used in the following cases:
Management of annualized contracts and calculation of hours worked on company activities
Tracking annualized hours linked to projects (time per project)
Working time modulation and planning of paid leave and absences
Working time modulation with compensatory time
Time management with overtime calculation and premium rates. Example: 35 to 43 hours with a 25% increase, then 50% beyond 43 hours
Time entry via timesheet module, followed by annual hours calculation
Modulation of hours over a semi-annual or annual period
Management of an annual time counter per employee. The software allows setting weekly thresholds to calculate excess hours. Example: part-time contract of 22 hours, triggering additional or overtime hours depending on the employee profile
Possibility for the employer to manage working time modulation alongside activity tracking, including monitoring salary costs linked to worked hours
Features of the working time modulation tool
HR Parameters
Scope of application
According to the collective agreement on working time modulation, you have the possibility to set a threshold to assess weeks of high or low activity, depending on each employee’s contract.
This threshold does not necessarily apply to annualized contracts; it can be used in the context of standard overtime management.
Note that for working time modulation, the collective agreement must provide a maximum limit on the number of hours to be worked, most often 48 hours.
In some cases, the modulation agreement specifies particular types of hours, such as night work or certain time slots during the day. For example, a premium applied to hours from the 8th to the 10th hour worked. In this type of scenario, the working time modulation tool provides a module called weighted activities. This module allows you to define time slots and premium rates with full flexibility.
Although in most cases the recovery of hours takes place at the end of the modulation period, it is observed that some employers allow their employees to recover hours during the period, in the form of compensatory time off. Within the working time modulation tool, each request for hour recovery is subject to validation by the HR manager.
According to working time modulation agreements, accrued overtime may be paid based on the employee’s contractual hourly rate. To provide an overview of the overtime quota, the working time modulation tool offers a dedicated interface for tracking overtime in the form of a periodic counter.
This timesheet validation option is not mandatory. However, for companies that wish to use it, the working time modulation tool provides an interface for validating timesheets submitted by employees. Note that our time tracking tool offers two time entry methods. In the first case, the employee is autonomous and accesses the timesheet tool to enter and submit their timesheets. In the second case, time entry can be carried out by the HR manager. In this latter case, the employee continues to declare their working hours on a paper form, and the manager is responsible for entering them into the modulation tool.
This refers to the modulation quota, that is, the number of contractual hours each employee must work per year. This annual working time volume is defined by the collective modulation agreement. Within the working time modulation tool, this parameter activates the dashboard for tracking annual hours.
