Remuneration

Remuneration is payroll or substitutes of payroll. The following is an excerpt the from the National Council on Compensation Insurance's Basic Manual on workers' compensation.

Remuneration includes:

  • Wages or salaries including retroactive wages or salaries
  • Total cash received by employees for commissions and draws against commissions
  • Bonuses including stock bonus plans
  • Extra pay for overtime work except as provided in Rule V-E
  • Pay for holidays, vacations, or periods of sickness
  • Payment by an employer of amounts otherwise required by law to be paid by employees to statutory insurance or pension plans, such as the Federal Social Security Act
  • Payment to employees on any basis other than time worked, such as piecework, profit sharing, or incentive plans
  • Payment or allowance for hand tools or power tools used by hand provided by employees either directly or through a third party and used in their work or operations for the insured
  • The rental value of an apartment or a house provided for an employee based on comparable accommodations
  • The value of lodging, other than an apartment or house, received by employees as part of their pay, to the extent shown in the insured organization's records
  • The value of meals received by employees as part of their pay to the extent shown in the insured organization's records
  • The value of store certificates, merchandise, credits or any other substitute for money received by employees as part of their pay (refer to Exclusions below for certain fringe benefits [substitutes for money] not considered to be remuneration)
  • Payments for salary reduction, employee savings plans, retirement, or cafeteria plans (IRC 125) that are made through employee-authorized salary reduction from the employee's gross pay
  • Davis-Bacon wages or wages from a similar prevailing wage law
  • Annuity plans
  • Expense reimbursements to employees to the extent that an employer's records do not substantiate that the expense was incurred as a valid business expense;
    Note: When it can be verified that the employee was away from home overnight on the business of the employer, but the employer did not maintain verifiable receipts for incurred expenses, a reasonable expense allowance, limited to a maximum of $30 for each such day, will be permitted.
  • Payment for filming of commercials excluding subsequent residuals that are earned by the commercial's participant(s) each time the commercial appears in print or is broadcast

Remuneration does not include:

  • Tips and other gratuities received by employees
  • Payments by an employer:
    1. To group insurance or group pension plans for employees, other than payments covered in inclusion f. listed above
    2. Into third-party pension trusts for the Davis-Bacon Act or a similar prevailing wage law, provided the pension trust is qualified under IRC Sections 401(a) and 501(a)
  • The value of special rewards for individual invention or discovery
  • Dismissal or severance payments except for time worked or accrued vacation
  • Payments for active military duty
  • Employee discounts on goods purchased from the employee's employer
  • Expense reimbursements to employees to the extent that an employer's records substantiate that the expense was incurred as a valid business expense
    Note: Reimbursed expenses and flat expense allowances, except for hand or power tools, paid to employees may be excluded from the audit, provided that all three of the following conditions are met:
    1. The reimbursed expenses or expenses for which allowances were paid were incurred upon the business of the employer
    2. The amount of each employee's expense payments or allowances is shown separately in the records of the employer
    3. The amount of each expense reimbursement or allowance payment approximates the actual expenses incurred by the employee in the conduct of his or her work
  • Supper money for late work
  • Work uniform allowances
  • Sick pay paid to an employee by a third party such as an insured's group insurance carrier that is paying disability income benefits to a disabled employee
  • Employer-provided perquisites (perks) such as:
    1. Use of an automobile
    2. An airplane flight
    3. An incentive vacation (e.g., contest winner)
    4. A discount on property or services
    5. Club memberships
    7. Tickets to entertainment events
  • Employer contributions to salary reduction, employee savings plans, retirement, or cafeteria plans (IRC 125)-Contributions made by the employer, at the employer's expense, that are determined by the amount contributed by the employee