SM6.20 Calculating remuneration (15/01/2018)

1. Remuneration will be calculated on the basis of payment per hour.
2. For the purpose of determining whether remuneration meets the requirements of SM6.10.5 (a) (i) and (ii) or SM6.10.15 (a) and SM6.60, evidence must be provided of hours of work in the employment agreement.
3. If the employment agreement specifies payment by salary, the payment per hour will be calculated by dividing the annual salary by 52 weeks, followed by the number of hours that will be worked each week.
4. If the employment agreement specifies payment other than by hour (including payment by salary) and the hours of work are variable, an immigration officer may request evidence of the range of hours to be worked to determine whether the variance in the hours worked would result in the per hour rate of pay being below the applicable remuneration threshold.
5. Hours of work per week will be considered variable if the employment agreement contains a provision allowing the employer to request or require the employee to work additional hours from time to time.
6. Where evidence of the range of hours is provided in terms of (d) above, or where the employment agreement specifies a range of hours, the maximum hours will be used to calculate whether the relevant remuneration threshold is met.
7. Each hour of work must be paid at or above the applicable per hour remuneration threshold.
8. For the purposes of SM6.10.5 (a) (i) and (ii) and SM6.10.15 (a) and SM6.60 (a) ‘remuneration’ includes:
   1. the agreed value of any reasonable deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for goods or services; and
   2. in the case of accommodation provided in connection with the employment:
      • the agreed value of any reasonable deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for that accommodation; or
      • if accommodation is provided by the employer, and there is no deduction from the applicant’s salary or wages for that accommodation, the market rental value of the accommodation provided; or
      • if an accommodation allowance is provided, the amount of that allowance.
9. ‘Remuneration’ excludes any other employment-related allowances (for example tool or uniform allowances) and bonuses which are dependent on performance.

   Note: In relation to SM6.20 (h) (ii) above, the meaning of accommodation, and the value of accommodation that is included in the definition of ‘remuneration’, reflects the definition of accommodation and the value of accommodation that forms part of a person’s income under section CE 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007.

10. The remuneration requirements set out in SM6.10.5 (a) (i) and (ii) and SM6.10.15 (a) and SM6.60 (a) will be updated in November each year based on New Zealand income data.

SM6.20.5 Payment on a per activity basis

1. Despite SM6.20 (g) above, an applicant with employment in a position that is not an ANZSCO skill level 1, 2 or 3 occupation whose employment agreement specifies an hourly rate of pay that is below the remuneration threshold set out at SM6.10.15 (a) may be assessed as meeting that remuneration threshold if they are additionally paid on a per activity basis and if:
   1. they provide evidence, taking into account their payment on a per activity basis, that they were paid at or above $36.44 per hour, on average, for prior work undertaken in the same occupation in New Zealand for at least two years; and
   2. that work on average amounts to at least 30 hours per week in each of those two years.
2. For the purposes of this provision ‘payment on a per activity basis’ excludes:
   1. payment based on the time taken to complete a task or the number of hours worked
   2. payment on commission (a commission is where an employee is paid based on sales they have made or other targets they have met)
   3. payment on an incentive or productivity basis (where remuneration is reliant on the variable rate of production of a good or the variable rate of sale of a service)
   4. payment based on a piece rate (piece rate  is a commission where the employee is paid for the number of pieces they worked on, for example, being paid for the number of bins of fruit picked, or the number of garments sewn).

Effective 15/01/2018