How Our Pricing Works
Swing works with each district to establish day and half-day rates that align with your preferences and budget. These are the rates used when creating and managing requests, and they form the basis of district billing.
While billing is structured around these per diem (daily) rates, substitutes are shown an equivalent hourly rate at the time they accept an assignment. We do this for two key reasons:
Labor compliance: In many markets, compensation must be expressed in hourly terms to ensure alignment with wage and hour regulations (including minimum wage requirements)
Pay transparency: Substitutes must have clear visibility into how their pay is calculated before accepting a job
The hourly rate is calculated based on the total expected hours in the request and the agreed-upon daily rate.
Because total charges are tied to this fixed daily rate , changes to hours (before or after the assignment) can impact how total charges are calculated. To ensure accuracy, certain edits may require confirmation from the substitute or a billing adjustment to ensure all parties are aligned on the final cost.
What Happens When Requests Are Edited?
Below are the most common scenarios where a request is edited or differs from the original schedule, and how those changes are handled.
Edits Before the Request Starts
If a request is updated after a substitute has accepted, but before the assignment begins (for example, extending the hours or changing the schedule):
We facilitate a confirmation process with the substitute to ensure they acknowledge and accept the updated terms.
To maintain pay transparency and labor compliance, the substitute must formally accept any schedule changes that impact their effective hourly rate.
In the event a substitute does not accept the updated terms, our team will work with you immediately to secure a replacement or adjust coverage to minimize disruption.
Alternatively, you may choose to keep the substitute at their original schedule and hourly rate. Any additional hours worked will be billed at the agreed-upon hourly rate, which will be added to your next invoice.
This ensures the substitute has agreed to the full scope of the job before arriving.
Illustrative Example
Pay Rate | Original Hours | Calculated Hourly Rate | Edited Hours | Adjusted Hourly Rate |
$100 | 3 hours | $33.33/hour | 4 hours | $25/hour |
Edits After the Request Has Started
If changes are made after the assignment has already begun (including updates to ongoing or multi-day assignments):
For future hours or days that have not yet been worked, we will:
Facilitate a confirmation process with the substitute to ensure they acknowledge and accept the updated terms.
To maintain pay transparency and labor compliance, the substitute must formally accept any schedule changes that impact their effective hourly rate.
If the substitute does not accept:
Our team will work with you immediately to find a replacement or adjust coverage to minimize disruption.
Alternatively, you may choose to keep the substitute at their original schedule and hourly rate. Any additional hours worked will be billed at the agreed-upon hourly rate, which will be added to your next invoice.
Additional Hours & Retroactive Changes
If a substitute works more time than originally scheduled, whether this is communicated during the day or after the assignment:
All surplus time is billed independently using the hourly rate agreed upon at the time the request was accepted by the substitute.
These adjustments will appear on your next invoice.
Minimum Wage & Compliance Adjustments
Swing automatically monitors every assignment to ensure the effective hourly rate meets or exceeds all local minimum wage requirements.
Compliance true-up: If an assignment’s actual hours worked cause the rate to fall below minimum wage, we apply a post-assignment “true-up” to the invoice to maintain legal compliance
Proactive Recommendations: For requests with long durations, we may proactively recommend adjusting the daily rate or shift the hourly structure of a request to avoid compliance issues upfront
These adjustments may result in a higher total charge than originally estimated, particularly when:
Scheduled hours are longer relative to the daily rate
Local (city-specific) minimum wage laws apply
This approach helps ensure your district and Swing remain compliant with applicable labor laws, while also ensuring substitutes are compensated appropriately for their time worked.
Best Practices to Avoid Billing Surprises
A few simple steps can help ensure requests run smoothly and avoid unexpected adjustments:
Plan Upfront: Enter the most accurate expected hours upfront when creating a request to establish a clear baseline for the daily rate.
Proactive Updates: Make schedule updates before a request is filled whenever possible to ensure the request is matched to the right substitute.
Communicate schedule changes early, especially if hours may increase
If extending hours on an existing request, note that the daily rate remains the same, which requires a formal acknowledgement and acceptance from the substitute.
Reach out to our team if you're unsure how a change may impact billing.