Just overtime
Where an employee is in receipt of regular overtime, the relevant period is 12 weeks prior to the date of injury.
Comcare considers that overtime is regular when it has been worked 6 times or more in the 12 weeks prior to the date of injury. Overtime worked less frequently than this cannot be included in the NWE.
The NWE figure is obtained by dividing the total amount earned by the employee in this 12 weeks by 12.
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Example |
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An employee is injured on 1/3/1997. Her salary is $1,200 a fortnight. She has worked overtime seven times in the twelve weeks prior to the injury (a total of 21 hours at $45 per hour). |
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The total salary she earned in the twelve weeks prior to the date of injury was $8,145. |
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$8,145 ÷ 12 = $678.75 |
Overtime may also be included in NWE if it is 'seasonal' overtime.
A seasonal overtime component will be included only as long as the seasonal period lasts. The figure should then be reduced using the provisions of section 8 (9). Likewise, were the employee still incapacitated the following year at the same time, the NWE would need to be temporarily increased using section 8 (9) once more.
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Example |
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A Tax Office employee is injured on 21 July. He has worked 1 night of overtime each week for 3 weeks. |
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While not regular at this time, the overtime pattern of 1 night per week is expected to continue to the end of September. |
In this case, the period 1 July to 21 July may be used as the relevant period, given that it can be shown that overtime will be regular. If still incapacitated at the end of September, the employee's NWE will then reduce.
Source URL: https://clik.dva.gov.au/military-compensation-reference-library/historical-information/comcare-operations-manual/volume-ten-incapacity-payments/part-two-normal-weekly-earnings/nwe-incorporating-allowances/what-relevant-period-means/just-overtime