Student Resource Package – Managing the Budget

Salary and Related Expenditure

This section on salary and related expenditure in the Student Resource Package (SRP) includes guidance on transfers between schools, resigning and fixed-term teaching staff, higher duties and travel allowances.

• Actuals
• Projections
• Transfers between schools (including transfers over vacation periods)
• Resigning teaching staff (including vacation periods)
• Fixed-term teaching staff (including vacation periods)
• Higher duties (including vacation periods)
• Salary mischarges
• On-costs: SRP and student support services
• Travel allowance
• Principal salary charge

Actuals

Salary charges to schools are based on actual payroll debits for individual staff as reflected on eduPay. This includes the actual cost of annual leave loading and all allowances, such as higher duties and special payments.

Staff may choose to package part of their salary in the form of non-cash benefits. Therefore, the charge to the school for an individual teacher may be a regular salary, or a combination of salary and non-cash benefits.

Schools are liable for the entire employment period of a staff member at that school, as defined in eduPay.

Projections

The SRP School Budget Management Report includes an estimate of expenditure for the full year, using the total of year-to-date charges plus a projection to 31 December. To facilitate this, salary figures for future pay periods are generated for each employee based on the latest payroll data.

Transfers between schools (including transfers over vacation periods)

Schools are liable for the charging of an ongoing staff member from the date of transfer until the return to base-school date in eduPay. The actual transfer date should be entered in accordance with eduPay guidelines and should be consistent with Recruitment in Schools.

Note: Principals of both schools are responsible for confirming the start and end date prior to the commencement of a transfer. In most cases this would be at the start of a term/school year and returning at the start of a term /school year to ensure that charging of vacation periods is against the correct school

Example 1 — End of year vacation

Ongoing staff member John Teacher is transferring from Orange Primary School to Blue Primary School to fill a one year fixed-term contract. Start and end dates have been agreed by both principals and entered into eduPay. Based on the eduPay data, John’s salary is therefore charged as follows:

• Blue Primary School (one-year fixed term position) will pay John’s salary from the first day of Term 1 to the day before Term 1 starts in the next year.
• Orange Primary School (John’s base school) will pay John’s salary from the first day of Term 1 (of the next year) on an ongoing basis.

Example 2 — Term 1 vacation

Ongoing staff member, Jane Support, is transferring from her base school, Red Secondary College, to Green Secondary College to fill a fixed-term contract for Term 1. Start and end dates have been agreed by both principals and entered into eduPay. Based on the eduPay data, Jane’s salary is therefore charged as follows:

• Green Secondary College (fixed term for Term 1) will pay Jane’s salary from the first day of Term 1 to the last day of the school Term 1 school holidays.
• Red Secondary College (Jane’s base school) will pay Jane’s salary from the first day of Term 2 on an ongoing basis.

Example 3 — Negotiated transfer date

Ongoing staff member, Joseph Teacher, is transferring from Green Secondary College to Red Secondary College to fill a one year fixed-term contract.

The principal at Red Secondary College wants Joseph to start work at the school early to assist in preparing for a new program at the school. The start date is the 16 January and end date (return to base school) is the 15 January the following year. Both principals have agreed to these dates and they have been entered into eduPay. Based on the dates entered into eduPay, Joseph’s salary is therefore charged as follows:

• Red Secondary College will pay Joseph’s salary from 16 January until 15 January the following year.
• Green Secondary College (Joseph’s base school) will pay Joseph’s salary from 16 January in the following year on an ongoing basis.

Resigning teaching staff (including vacation periods)

Example 1 — Staff member resigns on first day of Term 1

Staff member Lyn Teacher is resigning from Orange Primary School on the first day of Term 1 (further information can be found at Cessation of Employment — Teaching Service). Lyn is therefore charged as follows:

• Orange Primary School will pay Lyn’s salary from the first day of vacation to the last day of vacation.

Fixed-term teaching staff (including vacation periods)

Recruitment in Schools provides schools with clear guidelines on fixed-term teacher vacancies. The duration of the vacancy must include relevant school vacation periods. A Fixed term Teacher Vacancy Ready Reckoner is available at Recruitment in Schools to assist schools in establishing the appropriate employment end date. Dates are reflected in eduPay and used to determine how schools should be charged.

Example 1 — End of year vacation (fixed-term staff member worked Term 3 and Term 4)

Orange Primary School fixed-term staff member, Elizabeth Teacher, has a new fixed-term position at Blue Primary School. She has worked as a fixed-term staff member at Orange starting on the first day of Term 3 and had no other employment before that date. Using the fixed-term ready reckoner, it is determined that, as Elizabeth did not work for the entire year, she is only paid through the holiday period to the end of her leave entitlement. Based on the dates entered into eduPay, Elizabeth is therefore charged as follows:

• Orange Primary School will be charged Elizabeth’s salary from the first day of vacation to the end of leave entitlement.
• Elizabeth will not be paid from the end of leave entitlement to the last day of vacation and therefore there is no cost for any school to incur.
• Blue Primary school will be charged for Elizabeth’s salary from the first day of Term 1 until the end of her contract.

Example 2 — Term 1 vacation

Fixed-term staff member, Jane Support, has a new contract at Green Secondary College for Term 2. She currently has a contract with Red Secondary College for Term 1. Based on the dates entered into eduPay, Jane is therefore charged as follows:

• Red Secondary College will be charged Jane’s salary from the first day of Term 1 to the last day of vacation.
• From the first day of Term 2 onwards Green Secondary College will be charged Jane’s salary.

Higher duties (including vacation periods)

An employee in the principal or teacher class, who is assigned higher duties for a period that includes a school vacation period, will continue to be paid the allowance during the school vacation period. Higher duties assignments commence from the date of taking up the duty and cease at the end of the assignment period, or the last day of the school year, whichever is the earlier. Where an employee is in receipt of a higher duties allowance for at least one month immediately prior to the last day of the school year, he/she shall be paid the allowance to 31 December of that year. For more information refer to Higher Duties — Teaching Service.

Example 1 — Term vacation

Ongoing staff member, Edward Teacher, has been given higher duties as an Assistant Principal at Green Secondary College for Term 2. He is currently an ongoing teacher at Red Secondary College. For more information refer to: Transfer and Promotion for Teaching Service (including over vacation periods).

Based on the dates entered into eduPay, Edward is therefore charged as follows:

• Green Secondary College will be charged Edward’s salary from the first day of Term 2 until the last day of vacation.
• Red Secondary College will be charged from the first day of Term 3 onwards for Edward’s substantive salary.

Salary mischarges

Salary mischarging amendments can be submitted by schools via eduPay for situations such as staff charged to the incorrect budget category, for example Teaching Support to Integration Aide or to arrange split ledgers between schools.

For amendments related to leave, refer to: Relief Staffing.

On-costs: SRP

Funds are included in the budget to meet salary on-costs associated with the payment of salaries and allowances on eduPay. These on-costs comprise payroll tax and superannuation. This funding is not separately itemised within the budget. When hiring staff, it is important to factor in these on-costs.

Superannuation

Superannuation is cost neutral as it is funded and charged at the same level based on the total credit allocation within the SRP. The rate at which superannuation is funded and charged each year can fluctuate. Superannuation expenditure is shown as a separate line in the School Budget Management Report. If salary expenditure exceeds the credit allocation, then additional superannuation may be charged (refer to the next section). The superannuation rate for 2024 is 9.8%.

Calculation

Superannuation = ([Total credit budget] − [Workers’ compensation budget]) × [Superannuation rate]

Additional super

If a school’s credit expenditure generates a superannuation charge in excess of the funded superannuation amount, then additional superannuation may be charged. Any carry forward surplus on which superannuation was charged, using previous year(s) prevailing rates, is excluded from the calculation. This adjustment cannot make the additional superannuation figure negative and additional super cannot be zero or less.

Calculation

Additional superannuation = (Credit expenditure × Superannuation rate) − Superannuation

Additional super (with a surplus carried forward) = (Credit expenditure × Superannuation rate) − Superannuation − (Surplus carried forward × Previous year superannuation rate)

Where:

• Credit expenditure = Total credit expenditure excluding Workers’ Compensation, Teaching Practice Supervision, additional superannuation, Credit/Cash Transfers or administrative adjustments.
• Superannuation rate = Superannuation rate for the current budget year.
• Previous year superannuation rate = Superannuation rate for the previous budget year.
• Superannuation = Superannuation amount charged to the school.
• Surplus carried forward = Surplus figure carried forward from previous year.

Payroll tax

Funding for payroll tax is included within the budget and is based on the salary expenditure for a school. The payroll tax rate for 2024 is 5.40%.

Calculation

Payroll tax = (Salary expenditure − Teaching practice) × Payroll tax rate

Where:

• Teaching practice = The teaching practice supervision credit expenditure line is excluded from the payroll tax calculation.
• Payroll tax rate = Payroll tax rate for the current budget year.

Sabbatical

The participation of teachers in the sabbatical leave scheme is cost neutral to the SRP over the period of the scheme. Teachers participating in the scheme are charged to the SRP at 100 per cent of their salary at their relevant classification. The charge represents the actual cost of the teacher to the school over this period. When the staff member is on sabbatical leave, or receives a pay-out of their sabbatical, no charge is made to the school.

On-costs

On-costs are calculated as a single line which can be seen on your Budget Management Report. When budgeting to hire staff, it is important to factor in these on-costs.

The on-costs figure is based on actual salary expenditure and, as such, it may vary throughout the course of the year based on projected expenditure.

Travel allowance

Travel allowance will be charged as a deduction against the school’s cash line for the impacted program. This can be reviewed throughout the year on the School Budget Management and Cash reports. For information on administration and processes relating to travel allowance in eduPay refer to Travel and Personal Expenses — Teaching Service.

Principal salary charge

Special charging arrangements apply for the principal position in the SRP to ensure that the cost of the movement of principals’ salaries within classification scales is not borne by schools. This is achieved by ensuring the principal salary charge is consistent with the system of funding. Funding for the principal’s position is incorporated into the SRP formulae through the per-student rates and the Enrolment-Linked Base.

The principal's salary will be charged to the school according to the formulae below for primary, secondary and primary/secondary schools. In this way, the charge for the principal's salary is aligned with the amount effectively funded into the overall SRP model.

*Rounded to the whole dollar

**Rounded to two decimal places