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Earnings definition

What does Earnings mean? In corporate and finance practice, earnings means the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for a reporting period. It is the company’s profit after tax, after finance costs (including interest paid to bondholders) and after any preference dividends. Earnings are commonly shown on a per‑share basis as earnings per share (EPS): profit attributable to ordinary shareholders divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period. Example: £2 million earnings and 10 million shares gives EPS of 20p. Earnings is a descriptive accounting and market term, not a statutory one. For listed companies in the...

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Employment commission schemes: structure, calculation, contractual or discretionary terms, national minimum wage compliance, holiday pay, termination provisions and routes for employee claims

Practice notes
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Practice Note

This Practice Note outlines the nature of commission arrangements and common methods of calculation. It reviews scheme structures, the need to address written particulars of employment and compliance with the National minimum wage, and whether a scheme is contractual or discretionary.

It also considers employees’ rights to commission during employment, confirms that the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA 1977) does not apply, and looks at termination rights and the claims an employee might bring. The Note describes the burden of proof in discretion-based disputes, highlights other potential causes of action, and points readers to materials on the taxation of commission.

Many employers—especially those with staff in sales—use commission schemes. Under these arrangements, some or all of an employee’s remuneration is paid as commission rather than basic salary. Commission is generally contingent on sales Performance: the greater the sales achieved, the higher the commission paid...

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Keith Bryant
Keith Bryant , KC chambers

Keith Bryant KC’s wide experience includes advising and acting for commercial and public sector organisations, trustees, government departments and agencies, individuals and unions.His practice is focused on pensions law and employment law and the areas of overlap between the two. He is also increasingly involved in cases with a financial services aspect.Keith is regularly instructed in the High Court (Chancery and King’s Bench Divisions, including Commercial Court and Administrative Court), the Employment Appeal Tribunal and the Appellate Courts, both in England and Wales and also in Northern Ireland. He has been involved in a number of matters before the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator, the Security Vetting Appeals Panel, the Pensions Ombudsman and other specialist tribunals.Keith writes and lectures regularly on pension, employment and other commercial topics. Keith sits as a part time employment judge....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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