This article applies to Motivity Practice Management. It answers common questions about Custom Overtime and helps you troubleshoot unexpected payroll export results. You will find answers about setup, a checklist for overtime that doesn't look right, and a guide to every alert on the payroll export Summary tab. If you are new to Custom Overtime, we recommend starting with the setup article.
Why This Matters
When overtime hours look different than you expected, it helps to know where to look first. This article walks you through the most common causes, step by step, so you can find the answer quickly and feel confident in your payroll export.
About Custom Overtime
What is Custom Overtime?
Custom Overtime lets your organization configure its own overtime rules and pay cadence instead of relying on the California-based rules that were previously built into the payroll report. Your payroll report then reflects the rules you set up, which reduces manual adjustments and supports organizations that operate in more than one state.
Is Motivity a payroll system?
No. Motivity is payroll-aware, but it is not a payroll system. It calculates overtime hours based on the rules your organization configures, but it does not replace your payroll software and does not guarantee compliance with labor law. Your organization is responsible for confirming that its configuration follows its own policies and applicable regulations.
What does the payroll report calculate?
The report categorizes hours, such as regular and overtime hours, based on your configured rules. It does not calculate rates or dollar amounts. Support currently covers standard overtime (Overtime 1) only. Double time is not included.
Setting Up
Who can set up Custom Overtime?
Authorized administrators. Custom Payroll Settings must be turned on before location assignments can be made.
What are the setup steps?
Setup follows this order:
Configure Global Settings, including your pay frequency and workweek.
Create one or more Overtime Rules that reflect your organization's policies.
Assign an active rule to each location.
Review provider eligibility to confirm every provider is covered by the rule you expect.
Setting up in this order helps avoid locations or providers being left without a rule. For full steps, see the article on how to set up Custom Overtime.
Do I need to assign a rule to every location?
Yes, every active location should have an active overtime rule. A rule that has been created but not assigned does not apply to any location. Locations without an assigned rule are marked as Unassigned and flagged in red so you can find them quickly. You can assign rules to Unassigned locations in bulk, or assign them one at a time in the table.
How do providers get their overtime rule?
By default, a provider inherits the active overtime rule from their primary location. If a provider needs different treatment, an authorized administrator can apply a provider-level override. You can review rule coverage across all providers on the Provider Eligibility screen in Payroll Settings. For more detail, see the article on managing provider overtime eligibility and overrides.
Why Results May Look Unexpected
A provider's overtime is not showing as expected. What should I check?
Overtime is calculated only when several conditions are all true. Please work through this checklist in order:
Custom Payroll Settings is on for your organization. When it is off, the report uses the default overtime behavior, and your custom rules and assignments are not applied.
OT eligibility is enabled for the provider. In the provider's profile, open Payroll Settings and confirm the provider is OT eligible for the dates you exported. A provider who is not eligible shows Overtime 0.00 and Provider OT Eligible = No on the Summary tab.
The provider has an active overtime rule assigned. Confirm that the rule the provider inherits from their primary location (or the override applied to them) exists and is active. If an eligible provider has no active rule, overtime is not calculated, and an alert explains why. See "Understanding Payroll Export Alerts" below.
Check the provider's Payroll Settings Timeline. The Timeline in the provider profile lists changes to eligibility and rule assignments with their effective dates. Compare those dates to the dates you exported. The report uses the configuration in effect for the exported period, and a change that takes effect after the report end date is not applied.
A workweek is defined in Global Settings. Overtime is calculated using that workweek definition.
The hours qualify. Only hours from services set to Include in Payroll Calculations = Yes and Exclude from Overtime Hours = No count toward overtime.
The report filters include the appointments you expect. Confirm the date range, provider and location, and appointment status selected for the export.
If the checklist doesn't explain the result, review the Alerts column on the Summary tab and contact support with the provider and pay period you are reviewing.
A location is flagged in red or shows as Unassigned. What does that mean?
The location does not have an active overtime rule. This can happen if a rule was never assigned, if the location was recently created, or if its rule was made inactive. Assign an active rule to resolve the flag.
I inactivated an overtime rule and now some locations show an alert. Why?
Inactivating a rule affects every location assigned to it. Those locations are flagged as assigned to an inactive rule, and they need a new active rule. Please note that inactivating a rule is permanent. An inactive rule cannot be reactivated, so to recover, assign the affected locations to another active rule or create a new one. Before inactivating a rule, check which locations use it.
A provider is getting a different rule than I expected. What should I check?
Which location is the provider's primary location, and which rule is assigned to it.
Whether a provider-level override has been applied.
Whether the provider works at multiple locations with different rules.
Whether a recent change to a rule, a location assignment, or the provider's location is waiting on its effective date.
The provider's Payroll Settings Timeline shows a history of changes, which can help explain when and why the rule changed.
I changed a setting, but the report doesn't reflect it. Why?
Reports use the configuration that was effective for the dates exported. If a change takes effect after the report end date, it is not applied to that report. For example, if a provider is reassigned to a new rule effective after the export end date, the export still uses the rule that applied during the exported dates.
I changed a rule, but my past payroll reports did not change. Why?
Changes apply going forward only. Historical payroll is not recalculated when you update a rule, a location assignment, or a provider setting, and files you already downloaded are not changed. Exports are generated on demand using the configuration effective for the dates you choose.
Why don't I see double time, meal and rest break premiums, or 4x10 schedules?
Custom Overtime currently supports standard overtime only. The following are also not supported at this time: alternative workweek schedule elections, blended or weighted regular rate calculations, and dollar or rate calculations.
My overtime hours changed after setup. Is something wrong?
Not necessarily. Previously, the report applied California rules to every customer: daily overtime after 8 hours, weekly overtime after 40 hours, a bi-weekly pay period, and a Sunday through Saturday workweek. Once your own rules and pay cadence are configured, results reflect your settings and may differ from earlier reports. We recommend comparing a sample pay period against your payroll records and adjusting your configuration if needed.
Why do totals differ from a report I ran earlier?
The payroll report modal displays a note that totals may vary from previously generated reports if related data has changed, such as appointment status, duration, or overtime settings. Re-running the same dates after any of those changes can produce different results.
Understanding Payroll Export Alerts
What are export alerts?
The Summary tab of the payroll export includes an Alerts column that flags situations where overtime may need your review. Alerts are informational only. They never block the export, but we recommend reviewing them to make sure your payroll is accurate. The Reference tab in the workbook explains how overtime and each alert were determined.
A provider with no applicable alert has a blank Alerts cell. There are four alerts:
Alert | What It Means |
Includes Overlaps | The provider has overlapping appointments on the same date. |
Partial Week Detected – Validate Weekly OT | The exported dates include only part of a workweek, so weekly overtime may be incomplete. |
OT Not Calculated – Provider OT Rule Not Assigned | The provider is eligible but has no applicable overtime rule. |
OT Not Calculated – Provider OT Rule Inactive | The provider is eligible, but their assigned rule is inactive. |
What does "Includes Overlaps" mean?
The provider has overlapping appointments on the same date. The overlapping appointments remain visible on the Timesheet Raw Data tab, and the alert does not change the overtime calculation. It appears whether or not the provider is OT eligible and whether Custom Payroll Settings is on or off.
What to do: Review the provider's overlapping appointments in Timesheet Raw Data, correct any that were entered in error, then re-run the report.
What does "Partial Week Detected – Validate Weekly OT" mean?
The date range you exported includes only part of a workweek, so weekly overtime may be incomplete. This alert appears only when all of the following are true:
Custom Payroll Settings is on.
Your global pay frequency is Semi-Monthly.
The exported dates contain a partial workweek, based on your workweek.
The provider is OT eligible and has an active rule assigned.
The provider's rule uses a weekly-only overtime threshold.
Overtime hours were calculated for the partial workweek.
The alert does not prevent or change the calculation. Overtime is calculated using the eligible hours available in the exported dates.
What to do: Validate the weekly overtime. If you re-run the report with dates that include the complete workweek, overtime is recalculated and totals may change. The alert no longer appears once the range no longer contains a partial workweek.
What does "OT Not Calculated – Provider OT Rule Not Assigned" mean?
The provider is OT eligible for the exported dates but has no applicable overtime rule. Overtime is not calculated, and Overtime shows 0.00 for that provider.
What to do: Assign an active rule to the provider's primary location (or apply a provider-level override), check the effective date in the provider's Payroll Settings Timeline, and re-run the report.
What does "OT Not Calculated – Provider OT Rule Inactive" mean?
The provider is OT eligible, but the rule assigned to them is inactive. Overtime is not calculated, and Overtime shows 0.00 for that provider.
What to do: Assign an active overtime rule to the provider's location (or override) and re-run the report.
A provider shows Overtime 0.00 but no "OT Not Calculated" alert. Why?
The provider is likely not OT eligible for the exported dates. In that case, the Summary tab shows Provider OT Eligible = No and Overtime 0.00, and the OT Not Calculated alerts are not displayed, because overtime does not apply. If the provider should be eligible, check their Payroll Settings and Timeline. Also note that a provider who becomes eligible only after the report end date is treated as not eligible for that report.
What if a provider qualifies for more than one alert?
Multiple alerts appear in a single Alerts cell, separated by commas, in this order: Partial Week, then Includes Overlaps. The two OT Not Calculated alerts never appear together, and never appear with the Partial Week alert, but either can appear alongside Includes Overlaps.
Which alerts appear when Custom Payroll Settings is off?
Only Includes Overlaps. When Custom Payroll Settings is off, the report uses the default overtime behavior, custom rules and assignments are not applied, and the Partial Week and OT Not Calculated alerts are not shown.
What changed on the Summary tab?
Three columns were added after Total Hours: Provider OT Eligible, Provider OT Eligible Effective Date, and Alerts. The Alerts column replaces the former single Alert column. If you use the Summary tab in your own spreadsheets or imports, please update any references to the old Alert column by name or position.
Getting Help
Who do I contact if I still have questions?
Contact your Motivity support representative. It helps to include the provider or location affected, the pay period you are reviewing, and the alert text from the Summary tab.
Last Updated: 11/13/26 by Tatum Winslow