Your gross income is the amount of money you earn before any deductions (like tax) are taken out.
SEEK’s new pay calculator helps you easily work out your take home pay depending on the salary you’re offered for a role. The tool also takes into account relevant taxes and superannuation.
While ‘salary’ and ‘wage’ are often used interchangeably, they’re different things.
A wage is the pay you receive that’s usually reliant on a time period – such as per hour or per day. If you’re paid a wage, it will depend on how many hours you work in a given pay period. If you receive a wage, you may also be eligible (depending on your award) to receive overtime, penalty rates or casual loadings.
A salary is a set or fixed amount paid to you over a 12-month period. With a salary, you’ll receive a regular payment (usually fortnightly or monthly) of the same amount – regardless of how many hours you work.
Net income is the money you take home after taxes and any contributions have been deducted from your gross salary.
Your net income is the amount that hits your bank account each week, fortnight or month from your employer.
No, taxable income is the income you have to pay tax on. It’s what’s left of your gross income after any allowable deductions have been made (so, the expenses you can claim at tax time).
Your gross income is your income before tax is taken out (excluding any superannuation paid by your employer). Your net income is your income after you have paid tax.
Money plays a big role in the decisions we make about our career. But more than half of Australians (51%) didn’t negotiate their salary during the recruitment period for their current or most recent role, and a third of us (33%) didn’t even discuss our salary expectations.
It’s never particularly comfortable to raise the topic of salary when you’re going for a job, but it’s important that you do.
There are four key things you need to know before you start salary discussions:
When a potential employer discusses salary with you, they’re usually referring to your base starting salary. If a salary package is offered, it will usually include your base salary as well as additional entitlements, benefits, incentives or rewards, such as superannuation, annual and sick leave, car allowance or bonuses.
Being prepared is the first step when you’re getting your salary sorted. Knowing what people doing similar roles get paid is a great starting point. It’s usually best to draw on your research and give a preferred salary range when you’re asked for a figure in salary discussions – this leaves you some flexibility to negotiate.
It’s also important to be open to alternative workplace benefits beyond salary, such as flexible working hours or additional vacation time.
There are few things as daunting as asking for a pay rise, but by doing the right preparation and using the right words, you’ll give yourself the best chance of success.
If you’re after an example of exactly what to say in a meeting with your manager about a pay rise, you can use this script.