Employees paid piece rates are paid by results instead of getting an hourly or weekly pay rate.

This means the amount the employee earns each week will vary depending on how much work they do.

Full-time and part-time pieceworkers are entitled to leave under the National Employment Standards (NES), like annual leave and personal leave. Leave is calculated on their ordinary hours of work and is paid on their base pay rate.

For more information about ordinary hours of work, see Award and agreement free wages and conditions.

Calculating an employee’s base pay rate where no award or agreement applies

Even though piece rate employees get paid by results rather than by time worked, employers are still required to keep a record of their pay rates.

A piece rate employee’s base pay rate is worked out as follows:

Step 1: work out the total amount earned by the employee in a particular period.

Step 2: divide that amount by the total number of hours worked in the same period.

Award or agreement free piece rate employees taking paid leave under the NES can’t be paid less than the national minimum wage.

For more information on piece rates, see Piece rates and commission payments.