Workplace Profile - STP/payroll template

The STP/payroll file removes the need for manual salary and remuneration calculations to a full year and full-time equivalent amount, as the template will perform this calculation. To do this for each employee, the template requires the entry of their income in their component parts, as well as an ordinary hours figure and a start date for each employee.

The file will compare the employees’ ordinary hours and start date against the information entered on the ‘Explanation’ tab of this file:

• If the employee has an ordinary hours figure that is lower than the full-time ordinary hours – pro-rata payments will be calculated up to be equivalent to the full-time ordinary hours figure.
• If the employee has a start date figure which predates the snapshot date chosen by less than 12 months – pro-rata payments will be calculated up to be equivalent to having worked the whole year.

Payment reference table - STP/payroll

* Company car payments - if the car is a tool of trade it is not included. If the car is part of the employees salary package it should be included on the profile. 

‘Ordinary hours’ is a mandatory field. It refers to an employee's normal and regular hours of work, which do not attract overtime rates. You are required to enter ordinary hours in two different places:

• The Explanation tab – you must enter the ordinary hours figure and the period those hours relate to that is considered full-time for the employees on the Excel file, e.g. 38-hours per week, 76-hours per fortnight, etc.

• The Upload tab – you must enter the ordinary hours for each employee as it relates to the standard your entered in the Explanation tab.

This means that, for example, a full-time employee will have the exact same ordinary hours figure as what is in the Explanation tab, and a 0.5 FTE employee will have ordinary hours that are exactly half the Explanation tab figure.

‘Employee start date’ is a mandatory field. It refers to the date that each employee commenced employment with the organisation and should be entered in the date format: DD/MM/YYYY.

• The ‘Employee start date’ should be less than or equal to the snapshot date chosen for your Workplace Profile.
• Employees that commenced working after the nominated snapshot date or who have ceased employment before the nominated snapshot date must not be included.

‘Base Salary (pro-rata)’ is a mandatory field. It refers to an employee’s annual salary or wage payments before tax, including salary sacrificed items, as received by the employee. Do not annualise the amount as this will be automatically done by the Workplace Profile template.

Base Salary (pro-rata) are payments made for (or that supplement) ordinary hours that are based on time worked, it includes:

• Regular wage or salary payments
• Annual leave/leave loading
• Carer and sick leave (paid)
• Employer funded parental leave
• Penalty rates and shift loadings
• Workers’ compensation payments

Base Salary (pro-rata or fixed) is not an employees agreed salary package. You must enter the actual amounts of the items listed above into the employee’s Base Salary (pro-rata) column.

'Base Salary (fixed)' is a mandatory field. It refers to Base Salary payments made to an employee regardless of the number of hours they work (as determined by their status as full-time, part-time, or casual employees) or the quality of their performance. Rather, it is a fixed amount, for example, per product produced or per quarter as stipend, i.e. wages and salary that are not paid on a pro-rata basis.

Example – A carpenter who is not paid their wage or salary per hour but instead paid per job or paid per product. This is a Base Salary (fixed) payment, as it made regardless of the time they have worked.

If you do not pay any Base Salary of a fixed nature for your employee(s), populate this cell with '0'.

You must enter the Base Salary (fixed) amount that has been paid to the employee for the past 12-months up to the snapshot date.

Amounts recorded in the Base Salary (fixed) column will not be annualised to what a full-time employee would be paid for the past 12 months as they are fixed/one-off payments.

Ordinary Time Earnings (OTE) relates to payments made to an employee for their ordinary hours of work. OTE (pro-rata) is a mandatory column, it includes a range of payments, including:

• Your entire base salary (pro-rata) amount
• Over-award payments
• Certain bonuses
• Commissions
• Shift-loading
• Certain allowances

In short, the ATO advise that OTE payments are those used to calculate superannuation contributions. This means, if your organisation pays superannuation on a particular payment, it should be included as part of OTE. The ATO provide a good overview of what is (and is not) included in Ordinary Time Earnings.

• OTE does not include superannuation, itself, but rather are the payments made on which super contributions are calculated. 
• OTE (pro-rata) must exceed or be equal to the Base Salary (pro-rata) amount as it includes 100% of the Base Salary (pro-rata) figure.

'Ordinary Time Earnings (fixed)' is a mandatory field. It refers to OTE amounts that were fixed in nature (i.e. a defined sum that was not pro-rata). For example, amounts paid to employees per product made or per engagement, or as a fixed amount, regardless of whether they were full-time, part-time or casual. 

• Your entire Base Salary (fixed) amount
• Back pay amounts
• Fixed/one-off discretionary payments that attract super
• Sales commission (fixed)

If you do not have any of the above payments to record for your employee(s), populate this cell with '0'.

• You must enter the OTE (fixed) amount that has been paid to the employee for the past 12 months up to the snapshot date.
• Amounts recorded in the OTE (fixed) column will not be annualised to what a full-time employee would be paid for the past 12 months as they are fixed/one-off payments.
• OTE (fixed) must exceed or be equal to the Base Salary (fixed) amount as it includes 100% of the Base Salary (fixed) figure.

'Superannuation' is a mandatory field. It refers to the superannuation payment to employees’ regulated superannuation fund for their retirement. By law, an employer must pay part of an employee’s earnings into this fund. See ATO definition - Superannuation. 

• Superannuation should reflect the total superannuation paid to the employee for the preceding 12-months up to the chosen snapshot date.
• The amount is provided before any salary sacrificing, and pre-tax.

Allowances is a mandatory field. It refers to fixed payments that are not included in Ordinary Time Earnings. Examples include: 

• Overtime and any additional payments (such as bonuses) that relate to the overtime
• Qualifications or special duties - for example, first aid certificate or safety officer 
• Expense allowances that are expected to be fully expended 
• Company car payments.

Allowances that attract superannuation as part of the employee’s Ordinary Time Earnings should be classified in the OTE (pro-rata) column.

• Enter the 'Allowances' amount that have been paid to the employee for the past 12 months up to the snapshot date.
• Amounts recorded in the 'Allowances' column will not be annualised and will be added to the Total Remuneration unadjusted. 

‘Fringe benefits' is a mandatory field. It refers to payments made to employees that are in a different form than salaries or wages. If the employee did not receive a fringe benefit amount you must enter ‘0’ for this cell.

• Enter the fringe benefits amount paid to the employee for the 12-months leading up to the snapshot date. 
• Amounts recorded in the ‘Fringe benefits’ column will not be annualised and will be added to the total remuneration unadjusted. 

For more information on what is considered a fringe benefit, see the ATO’s definitions.

'Employee Share Schemes (ESS)’ is a mandatory field. It refers to ESS interests that may be paid to employees or their associates under an ESS.  If no ESS payments were made, you should enter ‘0’ into this cell for each employee.
 

An ESS interest can be shares, stapled securities, or rights (including options) to acquire shares or stapled securities. 

• Only vested shares are to be included in total remuneration. If you have chosen to report salary data based on the financial year that ends within the reporting period, instead use the value from the Employee Share Statement.  
• ESS should be calculated the vested income received by the employee from the employee share scheme for the past 12 months up to the snapshot date. 
• Amounts recorded in the 'Employee Share Schemes (ESS)' column will not be annualised and will be added to the total remuneration unadjusted.