The amount you enter for gross earnings should be your standard weekly/monthly/annual earnings before tax and national insurance and ignoring any pension contributions you make. Do not take off deductions (i.e. do not enter your ‘net’ earnings) as we will calculate these separately.

Your benefit entitlement will be based on your net earnings - if you wish to enter your net earnings directly then please say yes to the question 'Are your net earnings different from the figure shown above'.

If you are self-employed the rules are slightly different. For more information go to earnings definition if you are self-employed.

If you claim Employment and Support Allowance or Incapacity Benefit you may have earnings under the permitted work rules. If you qualify you will see a tick box to indicate that your earnings qualify as permitted work. For more information see permitted work.

If you have more than one job enter the total gross earnings you receive. If your earnings vary and you are not sure what to enter you should seek further advice about how to calculate an ‘average’ earnings figure.

As an employee your earnings from employment include:

• bonuses and commission (including tips)
• Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Pay (but don't enter this on the earnings page as we take this information earlier in the calculation process)
• employer’s sick pay and maternity pay
• childminding expenses (e.g. childcare vouchers)
• expenses to cover travel to and from work
• other expenses which are not required to enable the client to carry out your job
• money received instead of pay (for example paid by a liquidator)
• money received in lieu of contractual notice or compensation paid for losing a job
• holiday pay for holidays not taken (but not holiday pay owed more than four weeks after a client stopped work)
• retainers
• money paid under the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978
• payments ordered by an industrial tribunal because the correct period of notice or redundancy has not been given
• payments from employer’s redundancy funds because of liquidation
• earnings from therapeutic work recommended by a doctor while receiving an incapacity benefit.

Earnings from employment don’t include:

• payment in kind (where no money is involved)
• expenses that are essential to carry out a job
• income received from occupational pension schemes (these are counted as counted as ‘other income’ and taken on a separate page)
• employer contributions to an individual’s pension.