Payroll Chaos, Solved: How a NYC-Area Jobsite Safety Leader Unified ADP + QuickBooks with Dapt

The Challenge: Multiple Systems, Multiple Unions, Multiple Problems

Before the implementation, the company struggled with fragmented processes that couldn't keep up with the complexity of their workforce.

Union Complexity Across Every Dimension

The field union (the majority of the workforce) had intricate rules including

• Shift differential based on clock-in time – Any work before 7:00 AM or after 5:00 PM is overtime
• Unpaid lunch overtime – If employees don't take a lunch, they receive 30 minutes of overtime pay
• Guaranteed hours with daily variations – Minimum 8 hours if work starts, but report times vary by employee and day (anywhere from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM)
• Cancellation pay – Different pay rules depending on when and why work is cancelled

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The driver union operated under completely different rules:

• Driver premiums – Additional $1/hour for accepting driver assignments (not scaled to overtime)
• Show-up per diems – $20 when reporting to the yard to pick up vehicles
• Equipment driving per diems – $40 when using personal vehicles instead of company equipment
• Storm work differential – Stand-by pay at overtime rates, storm pay at double-time rates
• Different guaranteed hours and cancellation policies

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The existing systems couldn't handle this level of variability. Payroll required constant manual intervention, union reporting was compiled from spreadsheets, and job costing was weeks behind—if it happened at all.

The Decision to Rebuild Everything at Once

The company recognized that they needed time tracking, payroll, union compliance, and job costing to work as one integrated solution rather than separate tools requiring manual handoffs.

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The goals were clear:

• Implement modern time tracking that could capture union-specific requirements
• Implement ADP Workforce Now® for scalable payroll processing
• Automate union reporting and guaranteed hours calculations
• Ensure job costing happened realtime, and automatically
• Build the entire system correctly from day one

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The Solution: A Coordinated Implementation from Time Tracking to Accounting

The company selected Dapt as the integration and synchronization layer connecting QuickBooks Time, ADP Workforce Now®, and QuickBooks for accounting.

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A unified discovery process mapped out how all three would work together to provide seamless processing and clear insights.

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The requirements gathering included:

• Union contracts and agreements for both unions
• Guaranteed hours rules and cancellation policies
• Per diem structures and driver premium calculations
• Shift differential and storm work policies
• Prevailing wage requirements (rare but required)
• Job costing and accounting requirements

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These requirements were then translated into specific technical needs:

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For QuickBooks Time:

• Custom fields to identify union membership or non-union status
• Job-based tracking for accurate job costing
• Fields to capture per diem eligibility and driver assignments
• Ability to handle guaranteed hours and cancellations

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For ADP Configuration:

• Documented all required earnings codes for per diems, premiums, and union-specific payments
• Identified deduction structures needed for union dues and benefits
• Outlined how different rate scenarios should be handled
• Specified which calculations Dapt would handle vs. which would be processed through ADP

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For Job Costing and Accounting:

• Labor cost allocation by job
• Union cost separation for reporting
• Burdened labor rate calculations
• QuickBooks Online posting requirements

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By identifying and documenting all requirements upfront, the implementation teams could configure the correct pay codes and structures from the start. This eliminated the typical back-and-forth of discovering missing earnings codes or incorrect deduction setups after going live.

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How the Unified System Works

Time Tracking with Built-In Union Logic

Employees track time in QuickBooks Time with custom fields that identify:

• Which union they belong to (or if they're non-union)
• Which job they're working on
• Whether they qualify for per diems or driver premiums
• Vehicle numbers for specific pay scenarios

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Example: Field union employee clocks in at 6:30 AM, works until 3:00 PM, skips lunch, tracked to a specific job.

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Dapt processes: 8 hours regular (shift started before 7:00 AM, guaranteed minimum applies) + 0.5 hours overtime (no lunch taken) = all costs allocated to the correct job.

Automatic Guaranteed Hours Application

For union employees, Dapt calculates guaranteed hours before preparing payroll inputs:

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Key field union scenarios:

• Employee works 6 hours → Dapt adjusts to 8 hours (guaranteed minimum)
• Employee cancelled before start → Dapt applies 2 hours cancellation pay
• Employee sent home due to weather after starting → Dapt applies greater of 3 hours or actual hours worked

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Key driver union scenarios:

• Employee works any amount → Dapt ensures minimum 8 hours
• Employee cancelled before or after start → Dapt applies 4 hours cancellation pay

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These calculations happen automatically based on time data and union assignment—no manual intervention required.

Preparing Payroll-Ready Data

Once time is approved and Dapt has applied guaranteed hours and union rules, Dapt prepares structured payroll inputs:

• Regular hours, overtime hours, and double-time hours calculated correctly per union
• Per diems and driver premiums identified as separate earnings
• Shift differential and storm pay applied as rate adjustments
• Prevailing wage rates calculated when required

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Dapt submits this pre-calculated data to ADP Workforce Now®, where the customer processes payroll using the inputs Dapt has prepared. Because Dapt identified all the required earnings codes during implementation and ADP configured them correctly from the start, the data flows cleanly without requiring manual adjustments.

Union Reporting and Job Costing

After payroll completes, Dapt continues processing the data for downstream needs:

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Union Reporting:

• Hours, earnings, and deductions broken out by union
• Guaranteed hours vs. actual hours documented
• Ready for union filings and audits

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Job Costing:

• Labor costs (wages + burden) allocated to each job
• Union costs separated for analysis
• Real-time visibility into job profitability

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Accounting Integration:

• Payroll journal entries created automatically
• Posted to QuickBooks Online without manual data entry
• Labor costs by job, union costs by type, all reconciled

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The Result

The unified solution now runs payroll and job costing as a single, real-time workflow using best-in-class platforms.

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✓ Accurate multi-union payroll on demand – Field union, driver union, and non-union employees are processed correctly with guaranteed hours, per diems, premiums, and shift rules applied automatically. One approval cycle—no manual recalculations, no second passes.

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✓ Real-time job costing – Labor costs are assigned to the correct jobs immediately after payroll instead of being rebuilt weeks later, giving the team accurate profitability data while work is still in progress.

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✓ Union-ready reporting on demand – Reports are generated automatically with hours, earnings, and deductions already separated by union, significantly reducing preparation time and errors.

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✓ Hours saved every pay period – The payroll team no longer spends time fixing issues,  chasing missing data, or reconciling mismatched numbers.

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The company now runs a modern, accurate, and repeatable payroll process with real-time visibility into labor costs and project profitability, saving time each pay period.