Pay Scale

18-Sep-2026 · AI Teammate 001
Available in other languages 中文

What is a Pay Scale?

A Pay Scale is a table of pay points, where each point carries a pay rate. Instead of typing a salary into each staff member's Placement, you record which point of the scale the staff member sits on, and Backstage reads the rate from the scale.

This suits organisations that pay on a published or negotiated scale rather than on individually agreed salaries. The Hong Kong Civil Service Master Pay Scale is a well known example.

Please go to Payroll -> Master Data -> Pay Scale to create the Pay Scale needed.

Why use a Pay Scale?

Re-rate in one place. When the scale is revised, you enter the new rates once against a new effective date. Every staff member on the scale picks up the new rate on that date, and nothing in their Placement changes.
A point, not an amount. A staff member's salary is held as a point on a scale. An increment or a promotion is a change of point.
Guard rails. A Rank fixes the range of points a job may be paid on, so a point outside the published range cannot be entered by mistake.

The three parts of a Pay Scale

Once a Pay Scale exists, its Edit page carries a nav bar over three sections.

Section	What it holds
General	The identity of the scale: Code, Name, Currency and Remark
Rates	The pay rate of every point, on every effective date the scale has been revised
Ranks	Named ranges of points, for example a rank paid from point 3 to point 15

1. General

Field	Description
Code	Short code to represent the Pay Scale, for example `MPS`. Required. The Code CANNOT be changed once the Pay Scale is created.
Name	Full name of the Pay Scale, for example Master Pay Scale. Required.
Currency	The currency every rate on this scale is denominated in. Chosen at creation and CANNOT be changed afterwards, because Pay Items are checked against it - changing it later would re-denominate every linked rate without a single figure changing.
Remark	Any notes for your reference, for example the source and revision of the published scale.
Is Active	Appears on the Edit page only; a new Pay Scale is active. An inactive scale and its Ranks are no longer offered when picking a Rank on a Placement Movement. A Movement that already holds one of its Ranks keeps it.

Code and Currency are set once. Decide both before you create the Pay Scale. To change either one you would have to create a new Pay Scale and move the staff onto it.

2. Rates

A Rate is the pay rate of one point, on one effective date.

Field	Description
Point Number	The whole number that orders the points on the scale. This is the value a Pay Item refers to, and the value a Rank's range is expressed in.
Point	The label shown to the user. Usually the same as the Point Number, but some published scales carry lettered points, e.g 33A, 33B and 33C sitting between points 33 and 34. Give each of those its own Point Number so they order correctly, and put the published label here.
Effective Date	The date this rate takes effect. Backstage uses the rate whose Effective Date is the latest on or before the date being paid.
Pay Rate	The amount, in the Pay Scale's Currency.
Remark	Any notes for your reference.

Reading two revisions side by side

The Rates section has an effective date dropdown listing every date on which the scale has been revised, newest first. Picking one shows that revision beside the one before it:

Pay as at the day before the selected date - what the point paid under the previous revision
Pay w.e.f. the selected date - what it pays under the selected one

Where a point had a rate under the previous revision but has none yet on the selected date, the row offers an Add Rate link, already filled in with that point's number, its label and the previous amount. This is the quickest way to enter a revision: pick the new date, then work down the list until no Add Rate links remain.

Rules to know when entering rates

One rate per point per effective date. A second one is refused with "Point 5 already has a rate effective 01 Apr 2026. Edit that rate instead of adding a second one." Two rates sharing a date would make the resolved pay rate arbitrary.
A point label is shared by all its revisions. Changing Point on one rate renames that point on every other effective date too. This happens silently, and it is deliberate - one point number carries one label.
Nothing is overwritten by a revision. The scale keeps every revision. Re-rating is always a matter of adding rates on a new effective date, never of editing the old ones.
The last rate for a point in use cannot be removed. Deleting or re-dating it is refused with "This is the only rate for point 5, and a pay item is linked to it. Add a replacement rate before deleting this one."

3. Ranks

A Rank is a named range of points on the scale, for example a rank that may be paid anywhere from point 3 to point 15. A Rank describes the job, not the person.

Field	Description
Code	Short code for the Rank, unique within this Pay Scale. Required, and CANNOT be changed once the Rank is created.
Name	The name of the rank, for example Clerical Officer. Required. This is the text copied into the Position box when the Rank is picked on a Placement Movement, so word it the way you want the position to read.
Min Point Number	The lowest point this rank may be paid on. Required.
Max Point Number	The highest point this rank may be paid on. Required, and must not be lower than the Min Point Number.
Remark	Any notes for your reference.

Ranks are listed in order of Min Point Number, so the list reads as the ladder of the scale.

A Rank is put to use in the Placement: a staff member's Movement points at a Rank, and the Pay Items effective while that Movement is in force may only take a point inside that Rank's range. See Placement.

A Rank that is set on a Placement Movement cannot be deleted - clear the Rank on those Movements first. Widening or narrowing an existing Rank's Min and Max is allowed at any time, and existing Pay Items are not re-checked, so after a re-banding review the staff who now sit outside their range.

Things to know

Progression is not automatic. No increment is derived from a join date or an anniversary. A staff member moves to a new point only when someone adds a new Pay Item with the new point and its effective date.
A revision is not backdated into a payroll already run. If you add a revision after a Payroll Batch has been calculated, that batch keeps its old figures until it is recalculated, and no catch-up or arrears line is produced. Enter revisions before running the payroll they apply to, or pay the difference as a separate Pay Type.
Date revisions on the first of a month. A Payroll Batch splits its period when a staff member's Pay Item changes mid-period, but not when a rate does. A revision dated mid-month is applied to the whole period. Published scales normally take effect on the first of a month, so this rarely arises.
A Pay Scale cannot be deleted while it holds Rates or Ranks. Delete those first, or simply untick Is Active to take the scale out of use.

What's Next?

Enter the Rates for your scale, one effective date at a time
Add a Rank for each job that is paid on the scale
Pick the Rank on each staff member's Placement Movement
Set the staff member's Pay Item to On Pay Scale and choose the point
Walk the whole set-up end to end with Set up a Pay Scale and pay staff on it

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