Example 2: 20% Salary Packaging
Non-cash Cash Component PAYE Tax Net
$291.33 $1165.31 $266.40 $898.91
plus non cash $291.33
$1190.24
8 The applicant opted for the 40% arrangement set out above which, on the calculation provided, increased her net remuneration by $207.40 per fortnight or $2,696.20 for a 26 week period.
9 Ms Twohill submits that the value of the salary sacrifice is $15,393.64, which is an amount calculated for Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) purposes by applying a multiplier of 1.9417 to the amount of salary sacrificed to establish an equivalent taxable value.
10 The applicant was also in receipt of the benefit of full private use of a motor vehicle made available to her by her employer whilst in employment and on paid leave. Ms Twohill submitted that the value of the private vehicle usage for fringe benefits tax year ending 30 March 2001 was calculated by TSWS to be $6,568 for a period of 234 days. This figure was provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) by TSWS by inclusion in the PAYG Payment Summary (Group Certificate). Ms Twohill submits that the amount of $6,568 calculated on the basis of 234 days equates to $10,244 per annum which is reduced to $5,122 for six months, which she asserts is the appropriate inclusion within remuneration for the purpose of s 89(5) of the Act.
11 Ms Twohill supports this submission with correspondence from Ms Caroline Taylor, the TSWS bookkeeper, to the applicant dated 25 July 2001 setting out the calculation of taxable value of the motor vehicle provided to the applicant (att. 3 to her written submission). There is no issue between the parties on the arithmetic of this calculation. The issue is whether the value of private use of the motor vehicle is properly included for the purpose of s 89(5) of the Act and if so whether the value calculated for FBT purposes is the appropriate rate.
12 Ms Twohill further claims the inclusion of a four week annual leave entitlement, 17½% annual leave loading and superannuation contributions at 8% of the gross wage, which were included in payments to the benefit of the applicant in the six months prior to the termination of her employment.
13 Mr K Godfrey, of Jobs Australia Ltd on behalf of TSWS, submits that the applicant was paid no more than $19,325.02 in the six months prior to her termination, made up of $11,595.22 in gross wages before taxation and $7,729.80 as salary sacrifice calculated on the basis of 40% or $297.30 per week for 26 weeks.
14 It is Mr Godfrey's submission that the purpose of the salary sacrifice arrangement pursuant to the enterprise agreement is to allow the recipient to receive that proportion of their gross salary free of income tax that would normally be paid by them and it is not appropriate to assign an enhanced value to that amount in the calculation of remuneration for the purpose of s 89(5) of the Act.
15 Mr Godfrey submits that the amount calculated for FBT purposes results in an artificial figure developed by the ATO for assessment of taxpayer rights and obligation in respect to non-employment issues such as HECS debt or payment of family allowance.
16 Mr Godfrey submits that the private use of a motor vehicle was contingent upon continuing employment. Mr Godfrey submitted that this is supported by the fact that the vehicle was not available for personal use during periods of unpaid leave; and accordingly the applicant is not entitled to any compensation for being unable to use resources of the respondent when not employed by that organisation.
17 Mr Godfrey submits that annual leave accrual and superannuation contributions are consequential upon employment and are not extended during the period of compensation post employment. Mr Godfrey notes in his submission that the applicant was paid the monetary value of accrued annual leave and 17½% annual leave loading thereon upon termination of employment.
18 Mr Godfrey further submits that the TSWS is a small community based organisation which provides a much needed and valued service to the community; and that its funding is drawn from Government departments which is not allocated to funding compensation awards. Mr Godfrey submits that the Commission should consider the economic consequences to the respondent, asserting that an award of compensation would place severe strain upon the organisation giving rise to the possibility of cessation of trading.
19 Mr Godfrey submits that the maximum compensation awarded should be 14 weeks pay or $10,405.78, an amount which he notes is comparable to that offered to the applicant in conciliation proceedings prior to the commencement of arbitration.
20 In reply Ms Twohill submits that in assessing the limit of jurisdiction the Commission should include payments of annual leave and 17½% loading thereon as these payment fell within the relevant period of six months prior to termination of employment.
21 Ms Twohill relies upon the provision of s 89(5) of the Act to rebut Mr Godfrey's submission that as the applicant was on leave without pay in the relevant six month period prior to termination of employment, remuneration is diminished. Ms Twohill submits that the taxable value of remuneration is the appropriate figure which is consistent with the awards of the Commission which are expressed in pre-tax or gross payments. Ms Twohill notes that any compensation payment will be assessable for tax purposes and accordingly must be a pre-income tax amount.
22 Ms Twohill submits that s 89(5) does not impose an obligation upon the Commission to restrict consideration of remuneration to cash. She submits that it is open to the Commission to determine the monetary value of any non-cash remuneration.
23 Ms Twohill's proposition is that use of the ATO valuation for FBT purposes is an appropriate valuation, refuting Mr Godfrey's submission that the ATO FBT calculation is an artificial value.
24 Ms Twohill submits that it would be incorrect to assess remuneration for the purposes of s89(5) on the net non-cash amount as this would have the effect of shifting the FBT liability from the employer to the employee.
25 Ms Twohill further submits that the impecunity argument advanced by Mr Godfrey in support of limiting compensation to 14 weeks pay is not supported by the financial statements of TSWS which she describes as a large community welfare agency with an annual income in excess of $500,000, holding significant assets and cash reserves. Ms Twohill refers to the balance sheet as at 30 April 2001 and Profit and Loss Statement for the period July 2000 to April 2001, attached to her submission, which shows current assets in excess of $243,000, fixed assets approaching $89,000 and an income surplus of $147,823.94 for the period ending April 2001.
26 Ms Twohill's submission is that any consideration of the pecuniary capacity of the TSWS must be balanced against the hardship occasioned the applicant by termination of her employment.
27 Ms Twohill concludes her submission in the following terms:
"The ongoing viability of the Tweed Shire Women's Service is a matter more appropriately addressed within the TSWS Committee of Management and by the major contractors of its services (the Government of NSW, particularly the Department of Community Services and the Area Health Service).
To award less than the maximum level of compensation to Ms Coghlan would be to condone and encourage the harsh, unfair and unreasonable employment practices of the Tweed Shire Women's Service and would not serve the interests of justice."
CONSIDERATION
28 In assessing the remuneration of the applicant during the period of six months immediately prior to termination of her employment for the purpose of s 89(5) of the Act it is necessary to establish the remuneration received by the applicant in the relevant period. Remuneration is to be seen as the value in the hands of the employee, not necessarily the cost to the employer; it is the value to the employee which is lost by the employee as a consequence of termination of employment.
29 Neither Ms Twohill nor Mr Godfrey referred to the substantial body of jurisprudence going to relevant issues.
30 In Shead v Summit Western Pty Ltd [1998] 81 IR 347 a Full Bench of the Commission (Hungerford, Schmidt JJ, Connor C) gave consideration to the meaning of remuneration and application of Part 6 of Ch 2 of the Act. At pp 356 to 363 the Bench said:
"Part 6 of Ch 2 of the 1996 Act is, in our view, clearly a provision of a remedial or beneficial nature and its interpretation is to be approached in the usual way applicable to such legislation, namely, that it will be construed generously so that the mischief to which it is directed is remedied so that the benefits it promises are not denied: see Bull v Attorney- General for New South Wales (1913) 17 CLR 370 at 384 per Isaacs J.
… …
…in adopting a narrow construction of the word "remuneration" limited to the monetary component of an employee's package the compensation order which the Commission could make would be constrained to the monetary component of the package. Agreements which employees and employers reached from time-to-time about the composition of "remuneration" packages would have consequences both for the right to have a termination decision reviewed by the Commission under the 1996 Act and the orders which the Commission could make in a successful case.
… …
The word "remuneration" is not defined in the 1996 Act or in its Dictionary. As earlier mentioned it is used in numerous sections thereof, the Schedules thereto and the Regulations thereunder. It is usually the case that in construing words in a statute which are not defined for them to be given their ordinary and natural meaning: see Cody v J H Nelson Pty Ltd (1947) 74 CLR 629 at 647 per Dixon J.
… …
In R v The Postmaster-General [1876] 1 QBD 658 at 663-664 Blackburn J, with whom Quain J agreed, observed as to the word "remuneration" appearing in a statute dealing with compensation for loss of office:
"But I think the word 'remuneration' is a wider term [than 'salary'] and means a quid pro quo. If a man gives his services, whatever consideration he gets for giving his services seems to me a remuneration for them. Consequently, I think if a person was in the receipt of a payment, or in the receipt of a percentage, or any kind of payment which would not be an actual money payment, the amount he would receive annually in respect of this would be 'remuneration', and consequently I think that this statute, in the early part of it, must be construed to extend not only to money payments but to any payment given as a remuneration for his services in the office."
… …
To a similar effect, Blain J, with whom Lord Parker CJ and Melford Stevenson J agreed, in S & U Stores Ltd v Lee [19691 1 WLR 626 said at 629 that:
"`Remuneration' is not mere payment for work done, but is what the doer expects to get as the result of the work he does in so far as what he expects to get is quantified in terms of money."