Types of allowance and

calculation of allowance in a
time study
By Aiswarya S

BFT/18/334
 Ty

Standard time is the time allowed to an operator to carry out the specified task under the
specified condition and defined level of performance. This is a standard definition for
standard time.

Some additional time is added to the basic time to arrive standard time of a task. In
practice, none can work throughout the day without taking rest. Operators need time for
relaxation from fatigue. Various are relaxation allowance, contingency allowance (like
machine breakdown)

basic time = (observed time( average)*rating)/standard rating

Standard time = basic time + allowances

The determination of allowance is the most controversial part of the time studying because
it varies from person to person, situation to situation, place to place, job to job season to
season and many more. Therefore standardized norms of allowance are used by industrial
Engineers. They are:-
  Relaxation allowance
 Contingency allowance
 Policy allowance
 Special allowance

Relaxation allowance
British Standards Institution (BSI) has defined relaxation allowances as follows, which

arc world-wide accepted :

35004 - Relaxation Allowance (R. A.) - Compensating rest allowance. An addition to the basic
time intended to provide the worker with the opportunity to recover from the physiological
effects of carrying out specified conditions and to allow attention to personal needs. The
amount of allowance will depend on the nature of the job.

35005 - Fatigue Allowance - A sub-division of relaxation allowance intended to cater for the
physiological and psychological effects of carrying out specified work under specified
conditions.

The fatigue allowance always contains a constant basic allowance, and may have in addition
a variable component of a size depending on how fatiguing the element is assessed The
constant portion of basic fatigue allowance is 4 per cent.

35006 - Personal Need Allowances - A sub-division of the relaxation allowance intended to

cater for attention to personal needs.

The personal needs allowance provides for the necessity to go away from the workplace to
attend to personal needs such as washing, going to the lavatory and getting a drink. The
allowance is made as a constant percentage, common figures being 5 per cent. for
men and 7 per cent. for women   

Calculation of relaxation allowance is made of two parts

 A constant allowance, as a basic minimum

 A variable addition, allowed according to the circumstances of the job

Constant allowance

Men Women
Personal Need Allowance 5 7
Basic fatigue allowance 4 4
Total 9 11
In addition to this constant allowance an additional variable basic fatigue allowance is added

Example

An additional allowance is given when an operative should perform

a job standing. Recent legislation in several countries has recognised the very fact
that extra effort is involved when a job is performed standing and provides for seats
to be made available for relaxation periods at or near the workplace.
When the operation is performed standing, the burden of the body
carried normally on both feet, the suggested allowance is 2 per cent. for men and
4 per cent. for women. If the duty requires standing on one foot just for an appreciable
period, this can be considered an abnormal position .

relaxation allowances, have to be determined with due regard to various environmental

factors such as heat, humidity, noise, dirt, vibration, light intensity, dust, wet conditions,
and so on.

Contingency allowance
A contingency allowance is a small allowance of time which may be included in a standard
time to meet legitimate and expected items of work or delays, the precise measurement of
which is uneconomical because of their infrequent or irregular occurrence. It is often
expressed as percent of basic time and always less than 5 per cent.

Special Allowance
Special allowance is given to any activity which is not a part operation cycle but requires for
the smooth performance of the work . This kind of allowance can be permanent or
temporary. This types of allowance are calculated by production study.

Start up allowance

Shutdown allowance

Cleaning allowance

Tool allowance

Dismantling allowance

Change- over Allowance

In general it is preferred to give all these allowance as period of time per day rather than
adding with standard time. Some allowance like set up allowance is given per batch.

Policy Allowances
A policy allowance is an increment, other than bonus increment, applied to standard time
(or some constituent part of it, e.g. work content) to provide a satisfactory level of earnings
for a specified level of performance under exceptional circumstances. It’s not a part of time
study. It can be permanent or temporary. It depends upon the policy or criteria in which the
firm has to apply the time studying. It is added to standard time with requirements of wage
agreement between employees and trade union.

A policy allowance can be added as a temporary factor to compensate for any imperfections
in the functioning of a firm, But, in this situation, it should be withdrawn as soon as the
condition normalises So, the policy allowances should be added with due caution and under
well defined circumstances.

Unoccupied Time Allowance

In order to calculate the standard time for an operation, it is not sufficient simply to
compute the work content inclusive of relaxation allowances, and contingency allowances.
It is necessary to add an allowance for any unavoidable unoccupied time which may be
experienced during the machine- controlled time.

Unoccupied time allowance is an allowance made to a worker when there is unoccupied

time during machine or process-controlled time.

Work study man should check whether unoccupied time can be avoidable or can be reduced
by method improvement.

Unoccupied time allowance is made in actual minutes.

Interference Allowance
An interference allowance is an allowance of time for production unavoidably lost through
synchronisation of stoppages on two or more machines attended by one worker. The
machine interference may occur due to settings, positioning, etc. which may influence the
skill and effort of the operator. However, this may not be added always for calculating
standard time as it belongs to machine controlled element. It is used to calculate out
prediction and other production control calculation.