Understanding Union Reciprocity in TradeSeal
Union Reciprocity helps TradeSeal calculate the appropriate rates and benefits when an employee’s home union is different from the union worked on a timecard.
This is commonly used when employees travel to a jobsite, work under a local union, or perform work where the project’s union requirements differ from the employee’s assigned home union in TradeSeal.
What is Union Reciprocity?
In TradeSeal, an employee may have a home union assigned to their employee profile. However, the job or timecard they are working on may require a different worked union.
Union Reciprocity tells TradeSeal how to handle that difference.
For example, an employee may belong to Union 123 but work on a project that requires Union 456. A reciprocity rule can be configured to tell TradeSeal which union rate to use and which benefits should be considered during payroll calculations.
When Union Reciprocity Applies
Union Reciprocity is considered when:
- Union functionality is enabled in TradeSeal.
- The employee’s home union is different from the worked union.
- The employee’s home union has a reciprocity rule configured for the worked union.
When these conditions are met, TradeSeal uses the configured reciprocity rule to determine how the employee’s rate and benefits should calculate.
Rate Options
A reciprocity rule determines which rate TradeSeal should use when the employee’s home union and worked union are different.
| Rate Rule | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Use home union rate | TradeSeal uses the rate associated with the employee’s home union. |
| Use worked union rate | TradeSeal uses the rate associated with the union worked on the job or timecard. |
| Use higher of worked/home rates | TradeSeal compares the home union rate and worked union rate, then uses the higher rate. |
These options allow your team to configure reciprocity in a way that aligns with your union agreements and payroll requirements.
Benefit Options
Union Reciprocity can also control which benefits are eligible to calculate when an employee works outside of their home union.
Benefit settings can be configured separately for:
- Worked union benefits
- Home union benefits
| Benefit Setting | What It Means |
|---|---|
| All | TradeSeal evaluates all eligible benefits using the normal benefit matching rules. |
| None | TradeSeal does not match benefits for that side of the reciprocity rule. |
| Custom | TradeSeal only evaluates specific benefit codes selected for that rule. |
This allows your team to decide whether benefits should come from the worked union, the home union, or only specific benefit types.
How Benefit Matching Works
When a reciprocity rule applies, TradeSeal first checks whether worked union benefits should match based on the rule’s configuration.
If no worked union benefit match is found, TradeSeal may then check the employee’s home union benefits, depending on the home union benefit settings.
If no reciprocity rule applies, TradeSeal continues using its standard benefit matching process.
Example: Reciprocity Applies
An employee belongs to Union 123 but works a job assigned to Union 456.
The reciprocity rule for Union 123 is configured as follows:
| Setting | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Worked Union | 456 |
| Rate Rule | Use higher of worked/home rates |
| Worked Benefits | All |
| Home Benefits | Custom |
| Home Benefit Codes | Pension |
In this example:
- The employee’s home union rate is $42.00.
- The worked union rate is $47.50.
- TradeSeal uses the higher rate, so the employee’s calculated rate is $47.50.
- Worked union benefits are eligible to match normally.
- Home union benefits are only eligible if they match the selected custom benefit code, such as Pension.
Example: Reciprocity Does Not Apply
An employee belongs to Union 123 but works a job assigned to Union 999.
If Union 123 only has a reciprocity rule configured for Union 456, then reciprocity does not apply to Union 999.
In this case:
- No reciprocity rule is applied.
- TradeSeal continues with the standard rate calculation process.
- TradeSeal continues with the standard benefit matching process.
Why Union Reciprocity Matters
Union Reciprocity gives your team more control over how TradeSeal handles employees working across different unions.
This feature helps support scenarios where employees travel, work under another local, or need special rate and benefit handling based on union agreements.
By configuring reciprocity rules, your team can help ensure payroll calculations reflect the correct union requirements while maintaining a consistent process in TradeSeal.
Interested in Union Reciprocity?
Union Reciprocity is available as an add-on feature in TradeSeal.
To learn more or gain access, please reach out to your TradeSeal representative.