Super for long-distance drivers
There are 3 ways to calculate super for long-distance drivers. Ordinary time earnings (OTE) is defined the same as for other employees.
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.
Employers should seek advice if they are unsure on how to calculate the ordinary time earnings for their 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 3 methods:
The examples below are based on the award. Employers should seek advice if the terms of their enterprise agreement vary from that of the award.
Example: minimum-guaranteed-wage method
Mary 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 $864.10 per week, regardless of how little Mary actually drives.
As Mary receives only this minimum payment under the award, during the July–September quarter of the 2022–23 financial year, her employer calculates her OTE using that amount:
Super guarantee:
= OTE × SG rate
= $864.10 × 10.5%
= $90.73 per week
End of example
Example: hourly-driving-rate method
Sean is a long-distance driver, Grade 6, working under the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2021. He is paid under the hourly-driving-rate method.
The hourly driving rate of $33.70 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 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 has worked his ordinary hours of 38 hours in each of the last 3 weeks of August 2022. He works 50 hours in the first week of September 2022.
Super guarantee for each of the weeks:
= OTE × SG rate
= ordinary hours × hourly rate × SG rate
= 38 hours (as defined in the award) × $33.70 × 10.5%
= $134.46
End of example
Example: 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 full-time employees is $33.70. 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 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 has worked her ordinary hours of 38 hours in the first 3 weeks of July 2022 and 45 hours in the last week of July.
Super guarantee for each of the 4 weeks:
= OTE × SG rate
= ordinary hours × hourly rate × SG rate
= 38 hours (as defined in the award) × $38.75 ($33.70 + 15%) × 10.5%
= $154.61
End of example
Example: cents-per-kilometre method
Jack, a Grade 6 long distance driver, travelled from Melbourne to Darwin during July 2022 via the Stuart/Western Highway (3,749 km) and was 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 44.93c/km.
Jack received 44.93c/km × 3,749km = $1,684.42.
As this amount exceeds the minimum guaranteed payment stipulated in the award, Jack's employer uses his ordinary hours to work out his OTE.
For the purposes of simplicity, the ATO allows for 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 kilometres per hour.
Therefore, a reasonable method of calculating the distance travelled during ordinary hours of work would be:
38 hours × 75 km = 2,850 km
The calculation to determine the minimum amount of SG required is therefore:
Super guarantee:
= OTE × SG rate
= c/km × 2,850 km × SG rate
= 44.93c/km × 2,850 km × 10.5%
= $134.45
End of example