A caregiver's pay rate lives in two places: on their profile (the Employment tab) and on each shift. When a caregiver is put on a shift, the shift locks in a copy of the pay rate used at that moment. Changing the profile later doesn't silently rewrite every shift — this article covers how to update both.
Where a shift's pay rate comes from
Assigning directly — the shift stores the rate chosen at assignment. That's normally the caregiver's profile rate (or your workspace default if they don't have their own), but a custom rate can be typed in.
Claiming an open shift — the shift stores the rate advertised on the open shift post, since that's the rate the caregiver accepted.
Recurring schedules — the series carries the assignment's rate forward, so newly generated shifts keep using it.
Change the rate on the caregiver's profile
Go to People → Workforce and open the caregiver.
Open the Employment tab and click Manage next to Pay Rates.
Enter the new hourly or live-in rate (or switch to Salary).
Check Update Pay Rates on Existing Shifts. With it checked, the new rate is applied to their upcoming shifts that still use the previous profile rate or the workspace default. Left unchecked, only shifts assigned from now on use the new rate.
Click Save.
If upcoming shifts kept a different rate
The profile change deliberately skips shifts with a custom rate — one typed in at assignment, edited on the shift itself, or locked in when the caregiver accepted an open shift at the advertised rate. Careswitch treats those as intentional per-shift agreements and won't overwrite them.
To put a recurring series back on the caregiver's standard rate (or any new rate):
Open the earliest upcoming shift you want the change to start from.
Click Configure Assignment in the action bar.
Under Affected Shifts, choose This and all following shifts.
Leave the current caregiver selected in the Employee field.
In the Pay Rate menu, pick their standard rate — for example Hourly ($14.00 / hour) — instead of Custom. (Choose Custom to set a different one-off rate for this series.)
Confirm with Schedule.
Every upcoming shift in the series from that date forward is updated, and new shifts the schedule generates will use the new rate too. Payroll projections recalculate automatically.
To fix just one shift, open it, find the pay line on its timesheet card, and use the ⋮ menu → Edit Pay Rate.
What never changes automatically
Completed and past shifts keep the rate they were worked at. Rate changes are never retroactive.
Shifts in a pay period that is already processing or paid are locked — their pay can't be edited from the shift.
FAQ
I changed the profile rate and checked the box, but some future shifts still show the old rate. Why?
Those shifts carry a custom rate (often from an open shift the caregiver accepted at an advertised rate), so the profile change skips them. Use Configure Assignment with This and all following shifts and pick their standard rate, as described above.
Why is a shift paying a different rate than the caregiver's profile?
The shift locked in its rate when the caregiver was assigned or claimed it. Check the shift's Activity tab — it records where the rate came from, for example "accepted the open shift post with the pay rate of $20.00 / hr."
Does changing a rate update completed shifts?
No. Completed shifts keep the rate they were worked at. If a completed shift in an open pay period has the wrong rate, edit that shift's pay rate individually from its timesheet card.
Can AI do this for me?
Yes — you can ask the Assistant to update the pay rate on shifts you name, or ask the Command Center to sweep a caregiver's upcoming shifts. The Command Center auto-confirms its actions, so preview in Read-Only Mode first.