Started Hour

The Started Hour calculator rounds each callout session up to the next full hour and adds an optional fixed amount once per session. It is built for callout-style agreements that pay “one hour minimum, plus one hour per started hour” regardless of how short the actual work was.

When to use

Use this calculator when the agreement says something like:

• “Each phone callout is paid at least one hour, plus an additional hour per started hour.”
• “Every callout pays the next full hour, plus a base hour on top.”

A 20-minute call pays the same as a 60-minute call (1 started hour + the fixed base hour). A 1h20m call pays one more (2 started hours + the fixed base hour). Back-to-back callouts that fall inside the same paid hour are merged into a single session so the base hour is not paid twice.

If the agreement pays a flat amount regardless of duration, use Flat Per Session instead. If it pays the matched minutes as-is or with a percentage multiplier, use Minutes or Percentage.

Parameters

How it works

The calculator processes the ranges that survived the rule’s filters in two steps:

1. Group ranges into sessions. Each range opens a session whose paid extent is its start time plus its duration rounded up to the next full hour. A later range that starts inside that paid extent extends the same session; a range that starts after it opens a new session. The extent grows as the session grows, so a chain of overlapping callouts collapses into one.
2. Pay each session. Each session is paid as Fixed Minutes Per Session plus its duration rounded up to the next full hour.

The total is the sum of every session’s payout.

Examples

With Fixed Minutes Per Session set to 60:

With Fixed Minutes Per Session set to 0:

• A 20-minute call → 60 minutes (1 started hour, no extra base).
• A 1h20m call → 120 minutes (2 started hours, no extra base).

Example: phone callout with a night bonus

A typical phone-callout agreement pays each registration with +1 hour as a base, plus +1 hour per started hour, and an additional +1 hour if the callout falls in the night window 22:00 – 06:00. The rate is the same on all calendar days.

This is configured as two allowance policies, both scoped to the same trigger reason (e.g. Phone callout) so they fire only on callouts registered with that reason:

Policy 1 — Base callout pay

Scope this policy to the Phone callout reason in Trigger reasons .

Add a single rule with no filters and the Started Hour calculator:

• Fixed Minutes Per Session: 60

This produces the “+1 base + 1 per started hour” payout on every call, every day of the week.

Policy 2 — Night bonus

Scope this second policy to the same Phone callout reason.

Add a single rule with:

• Filter: Time Interval — From 22:00, To 06:00
• Calculator: Flat Per Session — Minutes 60

This emits one extra hour whenever any part of the call overlaps the night window. Because it lives on a separate policy, it stacks on top of the base callout pay.

Verifying the numbers