Groups define policy implementations for a unit and are the components that determine the sets of employment and pay rules that must be applied to an employee when processing their work, pay, benefit, and attendance information. The group codes will be used to define standard hours per day, per week, per pay, the default wage basis and automatic pay generation rules. The group code will allow the employee's record to inherit the values defined at this level, however, authorized users may override these values. Employees in the system are connected to a unit and group code through their position code on the assignment. This association tells the system what rules and policies govern the employee. Groups are managed together for payroll processing through the payroll code. Group codes must be unique within a unit, in addition, they should be unique within an entity and are associated with a specific payroll. The reasons for defining a group include variations in the set of rules governing benefit options, vacation and other leave policies, working conditions such as standard hours, pay schedule and frequency, etc. Examples of groups include: full time, part time, permanent, contract, grandfathered, temporary, co-op, etc. This is a date sensitive form; information is viewed “As Of” a specific date. In the following business scenario, an organization has a salaried unit with a number of full-time and part-time policies. Within the full-time salaried employees, there are two sets of rules, one for the employees who work in the corporate head office, and one for the remainder who work in the offices of a remote plant. The corporate employees work a 37.5-hour week, whereas the plant employees work a 40-hour week and take their holidays based on the plant's designated holiday schedule, which includes a mandatory 10-day shutdown over the Christmas/New Year period. Additionally, all full-time employees who had elected certain life and disability coverage as of March 31st, 1995 continue to receive that life and disability coverage, but it is not offered to new employees. These employees are eligible for a reduced contribution rate for employment insurance purposes. Part-time employees who work over 25 hours per week are entitled to the same benefits as full time employees, but contribute a higher proportion towards the cost, part timers who work under 25 hours per week may purchase health and/or dental benefits only, at their own expense. These policy variations would typically produce the following group definitions: 1) Full Time 40 Hours (Pre '95) FT40-PRE95 2) Full Time 40 Hours FT40 3) Full Time 37.5 Hours (Pre '95) FT37-PRE95 4) Full Time 37.5 Hours FT37 5) Part Time Over 25 Hours PT-OVER25 6) Part Time Under 25 Hours – electing coverage PT25-BEN 7) Part Time Under 25 Hours – not electing coverage PT25