Manage jobs and compensation

Employees can be paid in different ways: salaried, hourly, or a combination.

In Gusto, compensation is managed through jobs, which define an employee’s title and pay rate. Each job_id is unique to an employee (two employees with the same title will still have unique job_ids), and employees can have multiple jobs.

If you are creating or editing a job for an employee with a work address based in Washington state, see this additional guidance .

1. Create a job and compensation

Prerequisites: An employee record must already exist before creating a job. To make one, use the POST /v1/companies/{company_id}/employees endpoint. For detailed onboarding steps, refer to the Onboard a W2 Employee guide.

Create a job using the POST /v1/employees/{employee_id}/jobs endpoint. The hire_date is the day the employee begins in this role.

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2% shareholder status

When building your job creation UI, conditionally display a "Select if employee is a 2% shareholder" checkbox based on the company's federal tax details. Retrieve these using the GET /v1/companies/{company_id}/federal_tax_details endpoint, and display the checkbox when either of the following is true:

• "tax_payer_type": "S-Corporation"
• "tax_payer_type": "C-Corporation" AND "taxable_as_scorp": true

Sample request

curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/employees/{employee_uuid}/jobs \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer <<access_token>>' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
     "title": "Regional Manager",
     "hire_date": "2023-06-21"
}
'

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

const url = 'https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/employees/{employee_uuid}/jobs';
const options = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/json',
    'content-type': 'application/json',
    authorization: 'Bearer <<COMPANY_API_TOKEN>>'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    title: 'Regional Manager',
    location_id: 1363316536327002,
    hire_date: '2022-06-21'
  })
};

fetch(url, options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(json => console.log(json))
  .catch(err => console.error('error:' + err));

Sample response

This call creates a job with an initial non-exempt hourly compensation rate of $0/hr—this rate will be in a compensations array object, as shown below.

You’ll update the compensation’s rate in the next step, using the uuid of the new compensation in the compensations array.

  "compensations": [
        {
            "uuid": "96e56730-a304-4dcc-a819-1716cd10589d",
            "employee_uuid": "259738db-2895-4e5b-ac9d-1ee296f54824",
            "version": "ca8a89029973e3a42df81d26092ad16d",
            "payment_unit": "Hour",
            "flsa_status": "Nonexempt",
            "adjust_for_minimum_wage": false,
            "minimum_wages": [],
            "job_uuid": "e51df53e-70d1-4877-872e-4b39eb181899",
            "effective_date": "2023-08-21",
            "rate": "0.00"
        }
  ],

2. Update the compensation

After creating a job, update the compensation using the PUT /v1/compensations/{compensation_uuid} endpoint.

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flsa_status

The Wages and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and federal, state, and local governments.

Employers on your platform should consider these requirements. For more informations, refer to the US Department of Labor guidance for the FLSA.

Sample request

curl --request PUT \
     --url https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/compensations/{compensation_uuid} \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'authorization: Bearer <<access_token>>' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '
{
  "version": "ca8a89029973e3a42df81d26092ad16d",
  "adjust_for_minimum_wage": false,
  "rate": "20.00",
  "payment_unit": "Hour",
  "flsa_status": "Nonexempt"
}

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

const url = 'https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/compensations/{compensation_uuid}';
const options = {
  method: 'PUT',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/json',
    'content-type': 'application/json',
    authorization: 'Bearer <<COMPANY_API_TOKEN>>'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    version: 'b6d6378ce263632a10a2bef78e7502bb',
    rate: '60000.00',
    payment_unit: 'Year',
    flsa_status: 'Exempt'
  })
};

fetch(url, options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(json => console.log(json))
  .catch(err => console.error('error:' + err));

Sample response

{
  "uuid": "e9afc002-755d-476a-a956-9f4a377c5569",
  "employee_uuid": "03cfd396-fc71-4a45-8aa7-3ed138379be4",
  "version": "38903f1f825684c16fe594e579f3fca9",
  "payment_unit": "Hour",
  "flsa_status": "Nonexempt",
  "adjust_for_minimum_wage": false,
  "minimum_wages": [],
  "job_uuid": "3897ec3d-0ec5-4f4d-80e1-faad12c2ae42",
  "effective_date": "2020-12-21",
  "rate": "20.00"
}

Update the rate for a job

Compensations define a job's rate and pay structure. While a job can have multiple compensations over time, only one compensation is ever active and the active compensation is based on the most recent effective_date.

You can create additional compensations using the POST /v1/jobs/{job_id}/compensations endpoint. The effective_date is a day that the employee hasn’t been paid for yet, up to a year in the future.

curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/jobs/job_id/compensations \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data 
{
  "id": 1363316536327004,
  "uuid": "96e56730-a304-4dcc-a819-1716cd10589d",
  "version": "98jr3289h3298hr9329gf9egskt3kagri32qqgiqe3872",
  "job_id": 1123581321345589,
  "job_uuid": "d8f8fbe7-496d-4b69-86f0-1e2d1b73a086",
  "rate": "25.00",
  "payment_unit": "Hour",
  "flsa_status": "Nonexempt",
  "effective_date": "2023-10-17",
  "adjust_for_minimum_wage": false,
  "minimum_wages": []
}
'

const fetch = require('node-fetch');

const url = 'https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/compensations/{compensation_uuid}';
const options = {
  method: 'PUT',
  headers: {
    accept: 'application/json',
    'content-type': 'application/json',
    authorization: 'Bearer <<COMPANY_API_TOKEN>>'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    version: 'b6d6378ce263632a10a2bef78e7502bb',
    rate: '60000.00',
    payment_unit: 'Year',
    flsa_status: 'Exempt'
  })
};

fetch(url, options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(json => console.log(json))
  .catch(err => console.error('error:' + err));

Adjust jobs and compensations for minimum wage

For hourly employees who may earn below the minimum wage threshold—such as tipped workers—Gusto can automatically apply a minimum wage adjustment at payroll time. This is configured at the compensation level.

Implementation details, including state availability and how to surface this feature in your UI, are covered in the Adjust for minimum wage guide.

Delete a compensation

You can delete a compensation for a job that hasn't been processed on payroll using the DELETE /v1/compensations/{compensation_id} endpoint.

curl --request DELETE \
     --url https://api.gusto-demo.com/v1/compensations/compensation_id
     --header 'authorization: Bearer <<access_token>>'

Washington state: workers' compensation fields

Two additional fields are required when creating or modifying jobs for employees with Washington state work addresses:

Surfacing as inputs in your UI

Consider surfacing the Washington state fields in your UI as follows:

Workers' compensation coverage (state_wc_covered)

Washington administers workers' compensation insurance to protect workers and employers from the financial impact of a work-related injury. Indicate whether this employee is exempt from the workers' comp tax:

• Yes, this employee is covered.
• No, this employee is exempt.

Risk class code (state_wc_class_code) (dropdown)

The risk class code associated with this employee's job function. There is no API endpoint to retrieve these codes dynamically; include the options directly in your application using the reference list provided by your Gusto Embedded integration contact.