Overview
Government Statutory Bonus and Government Weekly Allowance are given in Talexio based on this source: Bonus and Weekly Allowances. Both Government Statutory Bonuses and Government Weekly Allowances are fully taxable.
If an employee had more than one position during a Bonus Period due to changes in their Job Schedule, bonuses are calculated according to each position.
- Bonus Period
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The Bonus Period is the date range used to calculate an employee’s bonus.
Government Statutory Bonus:
- June payment: 1 Jan – 30 Jun
- December payment: 1 Jul – 31 Dec
Government Weekly Allowance:
- March payment: 1 Oct (previous year) – 31 Mar
- September payment: 1 Apr – 30 Sep
Government Statutory Bonus
The Government Statutory Bonus of €135.10 is given to employees in June (01 Jan - 30 Jun) and December (01 Jul - 31 Dec), and is given in full when:
- The employee has been employed for the full bonus period;
- And the employee is employed on a full-time 40-hour/week basis;
- And the employee has not taken any unpaid leave for which bonuses do not accrue.
Examples of unpaid leave that accrue Government Bonuses are Maternity Leave and Parental Leave, but during unpaid Vacation Leave, Government Bonuses do not accrue.
If an employee does not satisfy all these criteria, the amount given with be paid pro rata accordingly.
When calculating the Government Statutory Bonus, it is based on calendar days. To calculate the amount of the Government Statutory Bonus due, follow the calculation below:
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Calculation
(((Calendar Days * (Weekly Hours / 7 Weekdays)) - Unpaid Hours) / Bonus Period Total Hours) * €135.10
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Calendar Days - Calculate the total number of calendar days, including weekends, the employee was employed during the bonus period.
If an employee was engaged mid-way through the bonus period, the total number of calendar days would begin from their engagement date. If an employee was terminated mid-way through the bonus period, the total number of calendar days would end at their termination date.
- Weekly Hours / 7 Weekdays - The Weekly Hours are determined by the employee's Job Schedule. It is the fixed number of hours the employee works in a week, which is then divided by 7 weekdays to obtain the average number of hours worked per day. When multiplied by the Calendar Days, you will have the number of hours the employee may have worked during the Bonus Period.
- Unpaid Hours - The Unpaid Hours to be deducted are only the ones where the Government Statutory Bonus does not accrue. This is deducted from the number of hours the employee may have worked during the Bonus Period to get the total number of hours the employee worked during the Bonus Period.
- Bonus Period Total Hours - An employee employed on a full-time 40-hour/week basis, who was employed during the full Bonus period and did not take any unpaid leave where the Government Statutory Bonus does not accrue, would work a total of 1040 hours during the 6-month bonus period.
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Calendar Days - Calculate the total number of calendar days, including weekends, the employee was employed during the bonus period.
Government Weekly Allowance
The Government Weekly Allowance of €121.16 is given to employees in March (01 Oct - 31 Mar) and September (01 Apr - 30 Sept), and is given in full when:
- The employee has been employed for the full bonus period;
- And the employee is employed on a full-time 40-hour/week basis;
- And the employee has not taken any unpaid leave for which bonuses do not accrue.
Examples of unpaid leave that accrue Government Bonuses are Maternity Leave and Parental Leave, but during unpaid Vacation Leave, Government Bonuses do not accrue.
If an employee does not satisfy all these criteria, the amount given with be paid pro rata accordingly.
When calculating the Government Weekly Allowance, it is based on working weeks. To calculate the amount of the Government Weekly Allowance due, follow the calculation below:
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Calculation
(((Working Weeks * Weekly Hours) - Unpaid Hours) / Bonus Period Total Hours) * €121.16
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Working Weeks - To calculate the Working Weeks, calculate the total number of calendar days, including weekends, the employee was employed during the bonus period and divide the total number of calendar days by 7.
If an employee was engaged mid-way through the bonus period, the total number of calendar days would begin from their engagement date. If an employee was terminated mid-way through the bonus period, the total number of calendar days would end at their termination date.
- Weekly Hours - The Weekly Hours are determined by the employee's Job Schedule. It is the fixed number of hours the employee works in a week. When multiplied by the Working Weeks, you will have the number of hours the employee may have worked during the Bonus Period.
- Unpaid Hours - The Unpaid Hours to be deducted are only the ones where the Government Statutory Bonus does not accrue. This is deducted from the number of hours the employee may have worked during the Bonus Period to get the total number of hours the employee worked during the Bonus Period.
- Bonus Period Total Hours - An employee employed on a full-time 40-hour/week basis, who was employed during the full Bonus period and did not take any unpaid leave where the Government Statutory Bonus does not accrue, would work a total of 1040 hours during the 6-month bonus period.
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Working Weeks - To calculate the Working Weeks, calculate the total number of calendar days, including weekends, the employee was employed during the bonus period and divide the total number of calendar days by 7.
Calculating Bonuses for Irregular and T&A Based Employees
There is a separate calculation used for the following types of employees:
- Employees employed on an Irregular Job Schedule.
- Employees employed on a Fixed Job Schedule but have Basic Hours in payroll determined by clocked hours from the Time & Attendance module.
The hours used to calculate the bonuses for these employees are based on the Basic Hours in payroll. To calculate their bonuses, you will need to follow the calculation below:
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Calculation
(Bonus Period Basic Hours / Bonus Period Total Hours) * Full Bonus Amount
- Bonus Period Basic Hours - Calculate the total number of Basic Hours from the employee's payslips that cover the Bonus Period. This includes the T&A Basic Hours, Extra Basic Hours added to the payslips and Leave Hours.
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Bonus Period Total Hours - An employee employed on a full-time 40-hour/week basis, who was employed during the full Bonus Period and did not take any unpaid leave, where the Government Statutory Bonus does not accrue, would work a total of 1040 hours during the 6-month bonus period.
Irregular employees are given both bonuses every 3 months. This means their Bonus Periods are the previous 3 months, not the previous 6 months. Therefore, the Bonus Period Total Hours based on the previous 3 months is 520 hours.
- Full Bonus Amount - This is the Full Bonus Amount according to which bonus is being calculated. For the Government Weekly Allowance, it is €121.16, and for the Government Statutory Bonus, it is €135.10.
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' on 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 and May (this would be the June bonus portion);
- For the Government Weekly Allowance: prorata for hours worked between April and 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 GIF below:
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.
Exceptions
- 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 Prorata bonuses option unticked.