4. Payments in addition to key remuneration concepts
The following section provides information on payments that are not discussed in the preceding sections on Base Salary, Total Remuneration Package or Total Reward. They are reflective of situations outside the standard parameters and include remuneration for taking on higher or additional duties and payments specific to geographical locations and particular hardship.
4.1 Acting classification
Acting classification salary has not been included in any of the key remuneration component reporting. There were 12,108 employees, or 8.7% of the workforce, on temporary assignment to a different classification level and had been performing the acting duties for at least 90 days. This has decreased from 2015 when 12,487 employees, or 9.0% of the workforce, were on temporary assignment to a different classification level.
The values shown in Table 4.1 are the salaries paid to employees undertaking acting duties. The median values, when compared with the Base Salary (see Table 2.1) shows that the acting salaries tend to be between the 5th percentile and Q1 values. It demonstrates that employees acting at a different classification tend to receive salaries at or near the bottom of the temporary classification salary range, as would generally be expected.
Figure 4.1: Proportion of employees who were on temporary assignment to a different classification, 2012 to 2016
Source: Remuneration Survey data, 2012 to 2016
4.2 Geographic/Locality allowance
Table 4.2 provides data for a cluster of allowances which relate to a particular locality or geographical region. These are variously described across agency enterprise agreements. Examples of such allowances include: disturbance allowance, district allowance, remote localities assistance, leave fare and overseas allowance. It excludes disability related allowances such as location-specific hardship allowances.
In 2016, 6.7% of APS employees received a geographic or locality allowance; 9.8% of the SES workforce and 6.6% of the non-SES workforce.
Table 4.2 shows the classifications with the highest proportion of employees receiving a geographic/locality allowance in 2016 were the Graduate and APS 3 classifications. This is consistent with 2014 and 2015 findings. The APS 4 and APS 6 classifications had the lowest proportion of employees in receipt of geographic/locality allowances.
The Graduate and APS 3 classifications had the lowest median of allowances received. The SES 3 classification had the highest median. This is consistent with the 2015 findings.
In the last 5 years, the proportion of the APS workforce in receipt of a geographic/locality allowance has ranged between 6.1% and 6.8%.
Figure 4.2: Proportion of employees who received a geographic/locality allowance, 2012 to 2016
Source: Remuneration Survey data, 2012 to 2016
4.3 Disability allowance
Disability-related allowances are intended to address specific instances where an employee may need to work in circumstances where they are subject to specific discomforts and/or difficulties. These allowances may be applied for situations both within Australia and overseas and may be location and/or duty specific. Examples of disability allowances include, but are not limited to: duty at sea, hardship, inspection and certification of dangerous goods, marine crew accommodation, self-contained breathing apparatus, Southern Ocean operations training and working conditions allowances.
In 2016, 3.7% of APS employees received a disability allowance; 6.1% of the SES workforce, and 3.7% of the non-SES workforce.
Table 4.3 shows that non-SES classifications generally have lower proportions of employees in receipt of disability allowances compared to SES. Of the non-SES classifications, APS 1 employees had the highest proportion of 6.8% receiving a disability allowance. The rest of the
non-SES classifications had 2.2% to 5.7% of employees receive a disability allowance. In contrast, the SES levels ranged from 6.0% of SES 1 employees to 6.4% of the SES 3 workforce.
The lowest median disability allowance was $235 at the Graduate classification. The highest median disability allowance of $53,348 was at the SES 3 classification.
Particular hardship locations, including overseas, have contributed significantly to the amounts paid.
Figure 4.3 shows that the 3.7% of employees received a disability allowance in 2016, down from 3.9% in 2015.
Figure 4.3: Proportion of employees who received a disability allowance, 2012 to 2016
Source: Remuneration Survey data, 2012 to 2016
4.4 Additional duties/Responsibilities allowance
The additional duties/responsibility allowances include, but are not limited to: First Aid Officer, Fire Warden and Workplace Health & Safety Officer allowances. Additional duties data does not include higher duties. For information on higher duties, see Section 4.1: Acting Classification.
The classifications with the highest proportions of employees who received an additional duties allowance are the APS 5, APS 3 and APS 6 levels. The non-SES classifications with the lowest proportion of employees who received additional duties allowance in 2016 were the Graduate and EL 2 classifications.
The proportion of the whole workforce that received an additional duties allowance has increased from 9.2% in 2015 to 9.3% in 2016.
The additional duties at the SES classifications are a reflection of the need in some agencies for SES level employees to be available at all times to take on additional duties at times of crisis. This is more likely to occur in agencies with a presence overseas.
The median amounts paid were generally consistent across all non-SES classifications. This may be a reflection of enterprise agreement provisions providing allowances of similar value for the additional duties, based on the duty not the classifications.
The range of amounts paid for an additional duty varies depending on the nature of the additional duty. For example, First Aid Officer and Fire Warden duties attract a lesser amount compared to a Use of Force allowance.
Figure 4.4 shows the proportion of employees receiving an additional duties/responsibilities allowance in the past 5 years has generally been around 8.8% to 9.3%, with the exception of 2014 where 7.7% of employees received this allowance.
Figure 4.4: Proportion of employees who received an additional duties/responsibilities allowance, 2012 to 2016
