What is an employee’s earning base?
The earnings base for most employees is their ordinary time earnings (OTE), which means what you pay them for their ordinary hours of work. This amount will usually include any shift or casual loadings or commissions, some allowances and paid leave. It does not usually include payments made for work in excess of ordinary hours where separate overtime amounts are payable. But it may include rostered or regular overtime. Also regularly excluded are: • fully expended expense allowances, such as car allowances • reimbursed expenses • benefits subject to fringe benefits tax • jury top-up payments • parental leave payments • annual leave loading • accrued annual leave, long service leave and sick leave paid as a termination lump sum • redundancy payments • gratuities • dividends • partnership and trust distributions • restraint of trade agreement payments • payments for domestic or private work under 30 hours a week. • A detailed list of what is and is not included in OTE can be found on the
