For drivers covered by the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020, ordinary hours of work are 38 hours per week. In some cases, ordinary hours may be determined as an average of up to 28 consecutive days.
Ordinary time earnings (OTE) are defined in the same way as other employees. Employers should seek advice if you are unsure how to calculate ordinary time earnings for employees when multiple methods are involved in determining the ordinary hours earning base for super.
You can calculate super guarantee (SG) for long-distance drivers using one of the following 3 methods:
- minimum-guaranteed-wage method – you can't use this method if the driver's wages are more than the minimum under one of the other 2 methods
- hourly-driving-rate method
- cents-per-kilometre method.
The examples below are based on the award. Employers should seek advice if the terms of your enterprise agreement vary from the award.
Example: minimum-guaranteed-wage method
Marge is a long-distance driver Grade 6 working under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020. The award stipulates a minimum guaranteed wage payment of $979.70 per week. This is regardless of how long Marge actually drives.
As Marge receives only this minimum payment under the award, during the July–September quarter of the 2023–24 financial year, her employer calculates her OTE using that amount:
Marge's super guarantee is calculated as:
= OTE × SG rate
= $979.70 × 11%
= $107.77 per week.
End of exampleExample: hourly-driving-rate method
Sean is a long-distance driver Grade 6 working under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020. He is paid under the hourly-driving-rate method.
The hourly driving rate of $38.21 for full-time employees includes 2 components:
- an industry disability allowance of 1.3 times a base rate
- an overtime allowance of 1.2 times a base rate.
Although the hourly rate includes a component referred to as an overtime allowance, the allowance is not deducted from the total when calculating OTE. This is because the whole hourly driving rate is paid for what are defined to be ordinary hours of work (except where the hours worked exceed 38 hours).
Sean works his ordinary hours of 38 hours in each of the last 3 weeks of August 2023.
Sean's super guarantee for each week is calculated as:
= OTE × SG rate
= ordinary hours × hourly rate × SG rate
= 38 hours (as defined in the award) × $ 38.21 × 11%
= $159.72.
End of exampleExample: casual employee using hourly-driving-rate method
Rosie is a long-distance driver Grade 6 working under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020. She is a casual employee and paid under the hourly-driving-rate method.
The hourly driving rate for casual employees is $43.94. Casual employees are paid an additional 15%. The rate includes 2 components:
- an industry disability allowance of 1.3 times a base rate
- an overtime allowance of 1.2 times a base rate.
Although the hourly rate includes a component referred to as an overtime allowance, the allowance is not deducted from the total when calculating OTE. This is because the whole hourly driving rate is paid for what are defined to be ordinary hours of work (except where the hours worked exceed 38 hours).
Rosie works her ordinary hours of 38 hours in the first 3 weeks of July 2023.
Rosie's super guarantee is calculated for each weeks as:
= OTE × SG rate
= ordinary hours × hourly rate × SG rate
= 38 hours (as defined in the award) × $43.94 ($38.21 + 15%) × 11%
= $183.67.
End of exampleExample: cents-per-kilometre method
Jack, a Grade 6 long distance driver, travels from Melbourne to Darwin during July 2023 via the Stuart and Western Highway (3,749 km). He is paid using the cents-per-kilometre method under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020. The minimum cents per kilometre rate for a full-time employee is 50.944c/km.
Jack receives:
- 50.94c/km × 3,749 km = $1,909.74.
As this amount exceeds the minimum guaranteed payment stipulated in the award, Jack's employer uses his ordinary hours of 38 hours per week to work out his OTE.
For simplicity, we allow the cents-per-kilometre rate to be applied to the kilometres driven during ‘ordinary hours of work’ based on an average driving speed of 75 km per hour.
Therefore, a reasonable method of calculating the distance travelled during ordinary hours of work is:
- 38 hours × 75 km = 2,850 km.
The calculation to determine Jack's minimum amount of super guarantee required is:
= OTE × SG rate
= c/km × 2,850 km × SG rate
= 50.94c/km × 2,850 km × 11%
= $159.70.
End of example