What does gross earnings mean?

Gross Earnings is an essential term in payroll as when it’s not assessed correctly employees may be underpaid and the employer will not be compliant. Gross earnings refer to all payments made to an employee by an employer during a certain time period. These earnings will be used to calculate leave in line with the ordinary or average weekly pay, the 8% Holiday Pay As You Go amount, and the 8% of gross earnings paid out when leaving employment. 

Gross earnings can include salary and wages, some allowances, overtime and leave. Gross earnings don’t include reimbursements, cashed out annual leave and redundancy payments. For a more extensive list see Employment NZ.

PayHero payroll can do the heavy lifting for calculations based on gross earnings.