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Piece rates and commission payments

Some employees can be paid piece rates or commission payments.

Learn more about what rules and responsibilities apply.

Piece rates

A piece rate is where an employee gets paid by the piece. This means the employee gets a pay rate for the amount picked, packed, pruned or made.

When piece rates are paid, they apply instead of an hourly or weekly pay rate. An employee can be hired to work a mix of piece rates and hourly rate shifts.

An employee can be paid piece rates when:

an awardAn award is a legal document that outlines the wages and conditions of employment for employees that are covered by it within a particular industry or occupation. Other known term: modern award. or enterprise agreementAn enterprise agreement sets out minimum employment conditions and can apply to one business or a group of businesses. allows for piece rate payments, or
the employee isn’t covered by an award or enterprise agreement and they get a pay rate based on how much work they do.

An award or enterprise agreement can have additional requirements or specific rules about piecework.

Employees not covered by an award or enterprise agreement who are paid piece rates must still receive at least the National Minimum Wage.

Tip: Check out our Horticulture Showcase

Piece rates are common for employees working in the horticulture and wine industries.

We have information and examples on piece rates and pieceworker entitlements in our Horticulture Showcase.

Commission payments

A commission payment is an amount paid to an employee based on how much they sell.

Commission payments are usually calculated as a fee or percentage of an employee’s total sales. They may also be called a ‘bonus’ or ‘incentive payment’.

A commission payment can:

be paid as an extra incentive on top of an employee’s pay, or
make up an employee’s whole wage (commission-only payments).

When an employee can be paid commission as an incentive

An employee can be paid commission as an incentive at any time.

An award or enterprise agreement can set out rules about how this can be done.

When an employee can be paid commission-only

An employee can be paid commission-only when an award or enterprise agreement states that an employee can be paid this way.

An award or enterprise agreement can set out specific rules about how the commission can be paid.

Employees who aren't covered by an award or agreement can be paid commission payments. However, they still need to be paid at least the National Minimum WageA pay rate that applies to employees not covered by an award or registered agreement. Certain award or agreement free employees may have different pay entitlements depending on whether they have a reduced work capacity because of disability, if they're under the age of 21 or if they are an apprentice or trainee. .