How are Government Allowances/Bonuses calculated?

Talexio
Talexio
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Overview

  • Statutory Bonus and Weekly Allowance are given based on this source: Bonus and Weekly Allowances.
  • Both these allowances are fully taxable and given every 3 months, alternating between Statutory Bonus and Weekly Allowance.

Government Statutory Bonus

The government statutory bonus is given to employees in June and December. The full amount of this bonus is €135.10. Employees who work 1040 hours in the six months preceding the bonus period (i.e. January-June and July-December). An employee who worked 40 hours per week for each six month period will receive the full amount (40 hours x 26 weeks = 1040 hours). An employee working less than 1040 hours will be paid the bonus prorata. 

This is how the bonus is calculated prorata:

    1. Calculate days

      Calculate day by day, including weekends from the start date of position history till end of period covered by the bonus (in case of someone joining the company after the period covered by the bonus has already started) or from the beginning of the period covered by the bonus until the end date of the position history (in case of termination).

      01/05/2020 - 22/05/2020 = 22 days

    2. Calculate hours

      To calculate the hours, divide the number of hours per week worked by this person, by the number of days within a week. Then multiply this by the number of days in step 1.

      22 days * (40/7) = 125.71 hours

      If the person had more than one position history during this period, where they worked different weekly hours (ex. 40hrs/week then 36hrs/week), you will need to calculated the above days vs hours pro rata per position history.

    3. Remove unpaid hours

      Deduct any unpaid hours of leave booked by the person during this period, from the number of hours worked, in step 2.

      125.71 hours worked - 40 hours of unpaid leave = 85.71 hours

    4. Multiply by the bonus amount

      Get the final number of hours worked excluding unpaid hours, divide this by the number of hours within the whole period covered by the bonus and multiply by the full bonus amount.

      85.71/1040 * €135.10 = €78.55

Government Weekly Allowance

The government weekly allowance is given to employees in March and September. The full amount of this bonus is €121.16. Employees who work 1040 hours in the six months preceding the bonus period (i.e. October of the previous year-March and April-September). An employee who worked 40 hours per week for each six month period will receive the full amount (40 hours x 26 weeks = 1040 hours). An employee working less than 1040 hours will be paid the bonus prorata. 

This is how the bonus is calculated prorata:

    1. Calculate days

      Calculate number of days, excluding weekends from the start date of position history till end of period covered by the bonus (in case of someone joining the company after the period covered by the bonus has already started) or from the beginning of the period covered by the bonus until the end date of the position history (in case of termination).

      01/04/2020 - 22/05/2020 = 7 weeks + 3 days (=38 days)

    2. Calculate hours

      To calculate the hours, divide the number of hours per week worked by this person, by the number of days worked within a week. Then multiply this by the number of days in step 1.

      38 days * (40/5) = 304 hours

      If the person had more than one position history during this period, where they worked different weekly hours or different days within a week (ex. 40hrs/5week then 36hrs/4week), you will need to calculated the above days vs hours pro rata per position history.

    3. Remove unpaid hours

      Deduct any unpaid hours of leave booked by the person during this period, from the number of hours worked, in step 2.

      304 hours worked - 40 hours of unpaid leave = 264 hours

    4. Multiply by the bonus amount

      The the final number of hours worked excluding unpaid hours, divide this by the number of hours within the whole period covered by the bonus and multiply by the full bonus amount.

      264/1040 * €121.16 = 30.76

Exceptions

  • If the employee works on an irregular or casual basis, both Statutory Bonus and Weekly Allowance are added to the payslip every three months (prorated). 
  • Employees who are on a Student Apprenticeship contract may have different Government Allowance/Bonus conditions. More information about this can be found here.
  • In certain WROs, employees who are employed on a full time basis, but do not work 40 hours per week may still be eligible to receive the government bonus in full. In such cases, the relevant employees' job schedule must have the below option unticked:

Calculation of employees on irregular schedule or T&A schedule

In the case of employees who are on an irregular (non-fixed) job schedule, or those who are on a fixed schedule but the basic hours in their payslip is determined on clocked hours coming from Time & Attendance.

1. Calculate hours

Get all payslips to cover bonus period. The bonus period depends on whether the employee is a Fixed full timer (therefore bonus period is 6 months ex, Oct - March); or whether they are on an irregular basis (therefore bonus period is 3 months ex, Jan - March).

Total basic hours = T&A clocked hours + custom special rates + leave hours

Ex. 120 basic hours during period Oct-Mar

2. Multiply by the bonus amount

Proportion the hours worked over Full Timer hours for that period: 1040

Bonus given = proportion * full bonus amount

Ex: (120 / 1040) * €121.16 = €13.98

Payslip workings

Please note that each payslip includes a tooltip with how the government bonus/allowance was calculated:

 

Pay bonuses now

If you are working on payroll, you might notice a pay bonuses now button on top of the adjustments section. Switching this on (and pressing calculate) will work out the bonuses due to the employee at that point in time. So if, for example, you were to click 'pay bonuses now' to an employee's May payslip, they will receive the bonus calculation prorata as follows:

  • For the government statutory bonus: prorata for hours worked between January-May (this would be the June bonus portion);
  • For the government weekly allowance: prorata for hours worked between April-May (this would be the September bonus portion). 

Please note that when an employee is terminated, the 'pay bonuses now' button is automatically switched on.

You can pay bonuses now in bulk when adding employees to payroll by  selecting 'pay bonuses now' as per the below GIF:

Managing bonuses in bulk

Please note that if you want to amend the bonuses in bulk, you will need to click on Edit -> Bulk edit (in an unlocked payroll): 

When generating the bonus, previous payrolls must be locked before calculating the next one.

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