Salary and pay calculator

Your gross income is the amount of money you earn before any deductions (like tax) are taken out.

SEEK’s new pay calculator helps you easily work out your take home pay depending on the salary you’re offered for a role. The tool also takes into account relevant taxes and superannuation.

While ‘salary’ and ‘wage’ are often used interchangeably, they’re different things.

A wage is the pay you receive that’s usually reliant on a time period – such as per hour or per day. If you’re paid a wage, it will depend on how many hours you work in a given pay period. If you receive a wage, you may also be eligible (depending on your award) to receive overtime, penalty rates or casual loadings.

A salary is a set or fixed amount paid to you over a 12-month period. With a salary, you’ll receive a regular payment (usually fortnightly or monthly) of the same amount – regardless of how many hours you work.

Net income is the money you take home after taxes and any contributions have been deducted from your gross salary.

Your net income is the amount that hits your bank account each week, fortnight or month from your employer.

No, taxable income is the income you have to pay tax on. It’s what’s left of your gross income after any allowable deductions have been made (so, the expenses you can claim at tax time).

Your gross income is your income before tax is taken out (excluding any superannuation paid by your employer). Your net income is your income after you have paid tax.

Money plays a big role in the decisions we make about our career. But more than half of Australians (51%) didn’t negotiate their salary during the recruitment period for their current or most recent role, and a third of us (33%) didn’t even discuss our salary expectations.

It’s never particularly comfortable to raise the topic of salary when you’re going for a job, but it’s important that you do.

There are four key things you need to know before you start salary discussions:

Know current salary trends for your industry

The better informed about current market rates for the kind of role you’re applying for, the more likely you’ll be able to agree on an appropriate salary.

Know your baseline salary

Set (and stick to) a number where you’d walk away from the position.

Be honest

If asked, tell your potential employer about your current salary and competing offers. You need to ensure your value as an employee is equal to what you are asking for.

Be prepared to negotiate

Negotiations aren’t always about money, so if your potential employer can’t meet your ideal salary figure, think about whether you’d accept other benefits like additional holiday leave, flexible hours or working-from-home arrangements.

When a potential employer discusses salary with you, they’re usually referring to your base starting salary. If a salary package is offered, it will usually include your base salary as well as additional entitlements, benefits, incentives or rewards, such as superannuation, annual and sick leave, car allowance or bonuses.

Being prepared is the first step when you’re getting your salary sorted. Knowing what people doing similar roles get paid is a great starting point. It’s usually best to draw on your research and give a preferred salary range when you’re asked for a figure in salary discussions – this leaves you some flexibility to negotiate.

It’s also important to be open to alternative workplace benefits beyond salary, such as flexible working hours or additional vacation time.

There are few things as daunting as asking for a pay rise, but by doing the right preparation and using the right words, you’ll give yourself the best chance of success.

Know your company’s internal policies and processes

The first thing you need to do is check if the business or organisation you work for has a process in place for pay rise requests. Some companies have annual processes and others consider requests on an ‘ad hoc’ basis. Are there pay ‘bands’ that employees move up incrementally or is there room for negotiation? If there’s an HR manager at your organisation, speak to them about your company’s policy.

Do your research

Get a sense of industry standards for roles like yours so you go into salary discussions equipped with a realistic view of what you’re currently being paid and what to aim for.

Set up a meeting

Pay rise discussions should happen in scheduled meetings, not during a spontaneous conversation as you pass your boss in the hallway. Send an email with a calendar invitation and flag that you’d like to have a discussion about your salary.

Identify your value

When you’re asking for a pay rise, you’ll need to demonstrate to your manager that you’re worth it. Be sure to give examples of when you’ve delivered beyond what’s been expected of you and the benefits you’ve brought to the organisation.

Have a back-up plan

If your manager can’t or won’t agree to a salary increase or pay rise, there are other options to think about. Be prepared to discuss alternative possibilities, such as increased flexibility, working fewer hours or support for training that you’d like to undertake.

If you’re after an example of exactly what to say in a meeting with your manager about a pay rise, you can use this script.