Processing Non-Discretionary Incentives (Amazon-Funded)

Purpose

This guide explains how a Delivery Service Partner (DSP) processes the Amazon-funded, non-discretionary bonuses in UZIO Payroll for delivery associates (DAs). Amazon funds two bonus categories for the DSP incentive program, and this article covers only these two:

• Realtime — earned and paid in the same pay period (for example, the 5th/6th Day bonus).
• Lookback — earned in one or more prior pay periods (for example, a thank-you bonus).

Because both are non-discretionary under the FLSA, each is included in the regular rate of pay and can trigger an overtime (OT) recalculation. UZIO performs this calculation automatically through pre-linked earning codes (see Section 1).

Who can do this: Employer Administrators / payroll users on a DSP account.

1. Pre-seeded earning codes

Three earning codes are automatically created and pre-linked on your UZIO account — you don't add or configure them. They're visible under Employer Portal → Payroll → Payroll Setup → Company Earnings.

2. Entering the bonus amounts

When you receive the bonus information from Amazon, enter it into a payroll using bulk upload (recommended) or manual entry on the payroll grid. Both produce the same result on the paycheck.

2.1 Bulk upload (recommended)

Amazon provides two templates per pay run — one for Realtime and one for Lookback. Upload them one at a time into the active payroll; no per-employee data entry is required.

When to upload:

• Realtime — tied to a specific pay period. Upload the Realtime template into the regular payroll covering the pay period shown in the template. Example: a 5th/6th Day bonus earned for the period ending April 16, 2026 goes into the payroll for that same period.
• Lookback — not period-bound. Include it in that payroll or any later run. Example: a Lookback bonus covering March 16–31 can be paid in the April 16 run (or later); UZIO still calculates the retro overtime against the March hours.

Steps:

1. Start regular payroll — Payroll → Payroll Dashboard → Start Regular Payroll for the current period. Open Regular Pay Details and confirm the pay-period header matches the period the incentives will be paid in.
2. Open Earnings Data Import — at the top of the Regular Pay Details grid, click Earnings Data Import.
3. Upload the Realtime template — it has one row per eligible employee and one amount column for NA2 Realtime Bonus. Click Browse, select the file, Upload. UZIO validates it, applies the Realtime Bonus, and recalculates each employee's OT / DOT within the same payroll.
4. Upload the Lookback template — one row per employee, an amount column for LK2 Lookback Bonus, and a period column for the historical pay period(s). Click Browse, select, Upload. UZIO retrieves each employee's actual worked hours from UZIO Time Tracking for that historical range, recalculates the FLSA regular rate for that period, and posts the retro overtime to OTADJ.
5. Continue payroll as usual — the Realtime Bonus, Lookback Bonus, and OT Adjustment lines appear on the applicable paychecks; proceed to the Review Payroll Summary.

[Screenshot: Earnings Data Import dialog — Browse/Upload for the Realtime and Lookback templates]

Upload notes:

• Order is flexible — upload only Realtime if that's all you have; if both, Realtime then Lookback is typical but the order doesn't affect the result.
• Re-upload is supported — UZIO refreshes the amounts for the employees in the new file; you don't need to clear the previous upload.

Handling upload errors: UZIO validates every template. On failure the dialog shows "File upload failed due to data errors. Click here to download the error log." The log lists each failing row by number and reason. Correct the flagged rows and re-upload.

2.2 Manual entry (alternative)

Key the amounts directly on the Regular Pay Details grid — useful for small runs, a missed associate, an Amazon-side correction, or a one-off. Two entry points:

How they work together: Saving a global value applies it to all non-exempt employees and clears prior per-employee overrides; you can then still open the per-employee icon on a row to override that one. Exempt employees are excluded from non-discretionary OT (the per-employee icon doesn't appear on exempt rows), but they can still receive the bonus — it's just processed with no OT recalculation.

Entering/overriding an amount: open the global or per-employee icon → in the popup, find NA2 Realtime Bonus or LK2 Lookback Bonus and enter the Amount → choose the Period: Current Pay Period for Realtime (dates auto-fill, read-only), or Custom Period for Lookback (enter the historical start/end; Add Another Period for up to four date ranges) → Save. For Lookback, UZIO immediately calculates the OT Adjustment and posts it to OTADJ.

3. Review & reconcile before approving

Validate the amounts on the final review screen before approving:

1. Continue to Review & Approve (the last step before approving).
2. Click Download Payroll Register (available one-click from that screen). It lists every earning line — Realtime Bonus, Lookback Bonus, OT Adjustment — with the underlying hours and rates.
3. Reconcile against Amazon's supplementary report: NA2 amounts match the Realtime template; LK2 amounts match the Lookback template.
4. If a discrepancy appears, click Back, correct the employee via the per-employee icon (Section 2.2), move forward, and re-download the register to confirm.
5. When the register matches Amazon's report, approve the payroll.

4. Overtime (regular-rate) basis

Because both bonuses are non-discretionary, each is included in the regular rate of pay for the period earned, and OT and double-OT (DOT) premiums are trued up. Administrators don't calculate this manually — UZIO posts it automatically (within the run for Realtime; to OTADJ for Lookback). The basis, documented here for transparency and audit, differs for California vs other states in the divisor and the multipliers:

The bonus OT and DOT are added to the regular OT and DOT pay. For a Lookback bonus, the same calculation runs against the prior period's worked hours and the total posts to OTADJ.

Worked example — hourly rate $15; 50 hours worked (40 regular, 8 OT, 2 DOT); non-discretionary bonus $100, paid for the current period:

Compliance

Employers are responsible for their payroll submission and for compliance with all federal, state, and local laws. UZIO provides the calculation engine and audit trail; the employer is responsible for the underlying determination of bonus amounts, eligibility, and program design.

Need help? Contact your UZIO Customer Success Manager, UZIO Support at support@uzio.com or +1-571-601-1752, or use the Help menu in the top-right of the Employer Portal.

Related articles

• Processing Discretionary Bonuses (Amazon-Funded)
• Non-Discretionary Bonuses and Overtime Calculation — non-Amazon bonus programs
• DSP on UZIO: What's Different