Earnings period and pay period
Earnings period
The earnings period is the period over which the income has been accrued. A separate earnings period can be reported for each income type. The lengths of these periods can be different. The time period during which the income was actually accrued is reported as the earnings period of an income type.
Example: If an employee's income was accrued during 1–5 January and 24–27 January, report both earnings periods for the income type. If you only report 1–27 January as the earnings period, it will give an incorrect idea of the employee's days of work during the time period in question.
The earnings period is voluntarily reported data that is, however, needed by many data users, such as social insurance providers, unemployment funds and Kela. Although the earnings period is voluntarily reported complementary data, reporting it is recommended. It is particularly important to report the earnings period for income subject to social insurance contributions and other taxable incomes.
Reporting the earnings period is particularly important when the earnings period of the income type extends to the time before the pay period, for example when pay supplements, profit-sharing bonuses, holiday bonuses or holiday compensations are paid retroactively. Even if the earnings period coincides with the pay period, it is particularly important to report it when the work is part-time or occasional work.
For what income types does the earnings period need not be reported?
The earnings period does not need to be reported for tax-exempt reimbursements of expenses, such as daily allowance and kilometre allowances. The earnings period does not need to be reported for a fringe benefit if it has been available to the income earner for the entire month. If a fringe benefit has been available to the income earner for only part of the month, the reporting of the earnings period is recommended for fringe benefits, too.
Please note!
The Total wages (101) income type can be reported only once on one earnings payment report, except if unjust enrichment or recovery is also reported with respect to the previously reported income type Total wages (101). If monetary wages are reported using the 100 series income types, report the time period during which the majority of the income was accrued as the earnings period.
Pay period
The pay period is the period for which wages are paid. The pay period can be of a different length than the earnings period of the income.
Example: On 15 June, an employee is paid wages including Time-rate pay (201) from June, 1–30 June, and Bonus pay (203) from the entire start of the year, 1 January to 30 June. The time-rate pay and bonus pay have earnings periods of different lengths although they have the same pay period. The data can be submitted on the same earnings payment report, because the payment date is the same.
If monetary wages are reported in an itemised manner, the same income type can be reported more than once on the same earnings payment report if the earnings periods of the income types differ from each other.
Unit of wages
A unit of wages can be reported for each income type. This is voluntarily reported complementary additional data used to report the unit based on which the wages were paid.
The unit of Time-rate pay (201) can be an hour, a day, a week, or a period.
A number of units, such as square metres or pieces, cannot be reported for Contract pay (227). The unit is reported for contract pay if the contract was time-based.