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The Time & Compliance Engine is 2cloudnine’s automated pay interpretation layer. It sits between timesheet approval and payroll processing, applying every labor law, collective bargaining agreement, and client-specific contract condition to each timesheet — automatically. You define the rules once; the engine applies them to every timesheet processed from that point forward.

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How it works

Rather than relying on your payroll team to remember which rules apply to which workers, you encode those rules directly into the platform. Every time a timesheet is approved, the engine evaluates it against every applicable rule and calculates the correct pay outcome without manual intervention.
1

Define your pay rules

Work with your 2cloudnine implementation partner to configure the rules that govern your workforce — federal and state labor laws, client-specific terms, and any CBAs in scope.
2

Assign rules to workers and placements

Rules are attached at the appropriate level — by state, by client, by engagement type, or by individual contract. Workers crossing state lines automatically pick up the jurisdiction-appropriate rules.
3

Submit and approve timesheets

Workers submit time through the portal. Managers approve through the standard workflow. No additional compliance steps are required from either party.
4

Engine interprets and calculates

On approval, the engine applies every configured rule to the timesheet — overtime thresholds, shift differentials, break penalties, sick pay accruals — and produces the correct pay figures.
5

Payroll receives pre-validated data

Your payroll team receives timesheet data that has already been validated against every applicable rule. Exceptions are flagged before they reach payroll, not discovered afterward.

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US compliance coverage

The engine handles the full landscape of US federal and state labor law obligations that staffing firms encounter across a geographically distributed workforce.

FLSA overtime

Overtime thresholds, exempt and non-exempt classifications, and regular rate of pay calculations are applied automatically to every timesheet.

ACA monitoring

Hours are tracked across measurement periods to determine benefit eligibility and flag workers approaching ACA thresholds in time to take action.

State sick pay

Accrual rules and payout obligations for California, New York, Massachusetts, and other states with mandatory sick leave are encoded and applied based on worker location.

Minimum wage enforcement

State and local minimum wage rates are applied automatically for each jurisdiction, including locations where the effective minimum wage exceeds the federal rate.

Garnishments

Wage garnishment orders are processed within payroll automatically, applying federal and state withholding limits to each pay calculation.

Workers' compensation

Workers’ comp classifications and associated rates are applied per assignment, ensuring the correct premium basis is used for each worker type.

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Multi-state support

When a worker crosses state lines — or when your firm places workers in multiple states simultaneously — the engine selects and applies the correct jurisdiction’s rules automatically. You do not need to manually track which state’s overtime or sick pay rules apply to each individual.
Multi-state rule selection is driven by the worker’s work location as recorded on the placement, not their home address. If a placement spans multiple states within a single pay period, the engine can apply rules proportionally based on time worked in each jurisdiction.

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CBA and custom contract support

Many staffing firms — particularly those serving healthcare, manufacturing, or government clients — operate under collective bargaining agreements or highly specific client contract terms. The engine can encode these directly.
  • Collective bargaining agreements — shift differentials, on-call rates, callback premiums, and union-specific overtime calculations are configured as named rule sets and applied to all workers covered by that agreement
  • Client-specific terms — billing arrangements or pay conditions negotiated with a specific client are encoded at the client level and applied to every placement under that account
  • Custom pay policies — internal policies that go beyond statutory minimums, such as company-specific holiday pay or premium pay for certain assignment types, are supported as configurable rules

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Proactive anomaly flagging

The engine does not just apply rules — it also identifies potential issues before they reach payroll. Timesheets that trigger an anomaly (an unusually high hours total, a missed break that triggers a penalty, or a configuration that may result in an incorrect rate) are flagged for review before the pay cycle closes.
Before encoding new compliance rules — particularly CBAs, client-specific terms, or rules for states you have not previously operated in — have your legal or compliance team review the rule configuration. The engine applies rules exactly as they are written, so an incorrectly configured rule will produce incorrect pay outcomes consistently. Your 2cloudnine implementation partner can assist with initial rule setup and documentation.
If you are configuring the compliance engine for the first time, start with the Getting Started guide to understand the recommended configuration sequence and how to test rules against sample timesheet data before go-live.