Pro rata pay is a full-time salary scaled to the hours you work. To calculate a pro rata salary, divide your weekly hours by the full-time hours for the role and multiply the full-time salary by the result. Three days a week on a $90,000 full-time salary works out to $54,000 a year.
The phrase turns up in job ads and in every conversation about going part-time. The maths takes about a minute.
What does pro rata mean in a salary?
Pro rata is Latin for "in proportion". When a job ad says "$90,000 pro rata", the $90,000 is the full-time figure. You are paid the share of it that matches your hours.
The hourly rate stays the same. A part-timer on a pro rata salary earns the same per hour as a full-timer in the same role and works fewer hours.
You will also see it written as FTE, short for full-time equivalent. A role advertised at 0.6 FTE is three days of a five-day week.
How do you calculate a pro rata salary?
You need two numbers. One is the full-time salary. The other is the share of a full-time week you work.
Under the National Employment Standards an employee can work a maximum of 38 hours a week unless asked to work reasonable extra hours, and the Fair Work Ombudsman says full-time employees work 38 hours a week on average. If your contract or enterprise agreement sets a shorter full-time week, use that figure, because it is the one your employer works from.
Pro rata salary = full-time salary × (your weekly hours ÷ full-time weekly hours)
What does a pro rata salary calculation look like?
Say the full-time salary is $90,000 for a 38-hour week. You work three days of 7.6 hours, which is 22.8 hours a week.
22.8 ÷ 38 = 0.6
$90,000 × 0.6 = $54,000 a year
That is $1,038.46 a week before tax. To check it the long way, the full-time hourly rate is $90,000 ÷ 52 ÷ 38, which rounds to $45.55. Multiply that by 22.8 hours and 52 weeks and you land within a few dollars of the same $54,000. The few dollars are the rounding.
How do you work out pro rata pay for part of a month or year?
The same idea applies when you start or leave partway through a pay period. On $90,000 a year, a month's salary is $7,500. Start on day 11 of a 30-day month and you are paid for 20 of the 30 days, which is $5,000.
Payroll may count calendar days or working days, so the figure can move a little. Ask which method they use if your first or last pay looks off.
A pro rata bonus works the same way. Nine months of a year is 9 ÷ 12 of the full bonus. Whether you get one at all depends on the bonus scheme's rules, so read them before handing in your resignation a month before bonus day.
Does pro rata apply to annual leave and sick leave?
Yes. The Fair Work Ombudsman says part-time employees get the same minimum entitlements as full-time employees on a pro rata basis, and that includes paid annual leave and paid sick and carer's leave.
Full-time and part-time employees get 4 weeks of annual leave a year, based on their ordinary hours. For the 22.8-hour week above, that is 91.2 hours a year. Someone on 38 hours gets 152.
Full-time employees get 10 days of paid sick and carer's leave a year, which the Fair Work Ombudsman puts at 76 hours for a 38-hour week. At 0.6 of full time, that becomes 45.6 hours.
Paid family and domestic violence leave is the exception. Part-time employees get the full 10 days a year with no pro rata reduction.
Do casual employees get pro rata pay?
No. Casuals are paid a casual loading or a specific casual pay rate, and they don't get most types of paid leave, notice of termination or redundancy pay. Pro rata salaries and pro rata leave belong to permanent full-time and part-time roles.
What should you check before agreeing to a pro rata salary?
Confirm the full-time hours your employer is dividing by, because 0.6 of 38 hours and 0.6 of 35 hours are different weeks. Ask whether allowances are paid in full or pro rata. Then get your hours and days in writing. Many awards and enterprise agreements have record-keeping arrangements for part-time hours, and a written agreement settles the question when a "quick" Friday catch-up lands on your day off.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Part-time employees (pro rata entitlements, 38-hour full-time average, family and domestic violence leave, part-time hours arrangements)
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Hours of work (38 hours a week maximum under the NES)
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Annual leave (4 weeks a year based on ordinary hours)
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Sick and carer's leave (10 days a year, pro rata for part-time)
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Casual employees (casual loading, no paid leave, notice or redundancy pay)
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