# Meaning of earnings

> reg-2.57A — as in force on 2026-06-01 — F2026C00497 · Compilation No. 287 — https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026C00497/latest/text

2.57A Meaning of earnings
          (1) A person’s earnings include:
               (a) the person’s wages; and
               (b) amounts applied or dealt with in any way on the person’s behalf or as the
                   person directs; and
               (c) the agreed money value of non-monetary benefits.
          (2) However, an employee’s earnings do not include the following:
               (a) payments the amount of which cannot be determined in advance;
               (b) reimbursements;
               (c) contributions to a superannuation fund to the extent that they are
                   contributions to which subregulation (4) applies.
               Note:     Some examples of payments covered by paragraph (a) are commissions,
                         incentive-based payments and bonuses, and overtime (unless the overtime is
                         guaranteed).

          (3) Non-monetary benefits are benefits other than an entitlement to a payment of
              money:
               (a) to which the employee is entitled in return for the performance of work;
                   and
               (b) for which a reasonable money value has been agreed by the employee and
                   the employer.
          (4) This subregulation applies to contributions that the employer makes to a
              superannuation fund to the extent that 1 or more of the following applies:
                (a) the employer would have been liable to pay a superannuation guarantee
                    charge under the Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992 in relation to
                    the person if the amounts had not been so contributed;
               (b) the employer is required to contribute to the fund for the employee’s
                    benefit in relation to a defined benefit interest (within the meaning of
                    section 291-175 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) of the employee;







                  (c) the employer is required to contribute to the fund for the employee’s
                      benefit under a law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or a Territory.
               Note:     This definition is based on the definition of earnings in section 332 of the Fair Work
                         Act 2009.









Division 2.12—Classes of sponsor