Earnings & Compensation

This section explains the compensation language that sits behind payroll before deductions and reporting are applied. It helps readers separate the underlying pay arrangement from the payroll records that appear later in a run.

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• Salary explains fixed compensation spread across payroll periods.
• Wages explains the broader pay language used in payroll, employment, and reporting contexts.
• Base Pay explains the regular earnings foundation before extra pay lines are added.
• Hourly Rate explains one of the main inputs payroll uses for hourly earnings.
• Bonus explains extra compensation paid on top of regular earnings.
• Commission explains variable pay tied to measurable performance.
• Overtime Pay explains premium pay that sits beside regular wages.
• Shift Premium explains extra pay tied to less desirable shifts or conditions.

Questions This Section Answers

• What is the difference between salary and wages in payroll context?
• How do base pay, hourly rate, shift premium, and overtime fit together?
• How are bonus, commission, and overtime pay different from regular base pay?
• Which compensation term explains the pay arrangement before deductions are applied?
• When is a special-pay concept not the same thing as regular compensation?

Continue To

• Pay Basics for gross pay, net pay, pay periods, and pay dates.
• Time, Leave & Special Pay for vacation pay and other non-routine pay concepts.
• Taxable Benefits & Allowances for payroll amounts that affect records without looking like ordinary wages.

In this section

• Base Pay
  What base pay means in Canadian payroll and how it differs from gross pay, overtime, and other variable earnings.
• Bonus
  What a bonus means in Canadian payroll and how it differs from regular salary, wages, or commission pay.
• Commission
  What commission means in Canadian payroll and how this variable pay term differs from salary, wages, or bonus pay.
• Hourly Rate
  What an hourly rate means in Canadian payroll and how payroll uses it to build regular and premium earnings.
• Overtime Pay
  What overtime pay means in Canadian payroll and how it differs from regular wages, bonus pay, or statutory holiday pay.
• Salary
  What salary means in Canadian payroll and how fixed compensation is spread across payroll periods.
• Shift Premium
  What a shift premium means in Canadian payroll and how extra pay for less desirable shifts differs from overtime.
• Wages
  What wages means in Canadian payroll and how the term differs from salary and net pay.