BC16 The amendments made in 2011 clarify that the classification of benefits as short‑term employee benefits depends on the period between the end of the annual reporting period in which the employee renders the service that gives rise to the benefit and the date when the benefit is expected to be settled.

BC17 The Board's objective in defining the scope of the short‑term employee benefits classification was to identify the set of employee benefits for which a simplified measurement approach would not result in measuring those benefits at an amount different from the general measurement requirements of IAS 19.

BC18 The Board concluded that the classification of a short‑term employee benefit on the basis of the timing of expected settlement would best meet this objective and would be most consistent with the measurement basis in IAS 19.

BC19 Other alternatives that the Board considered for the basis for classification of short‑term employee benefits included:

(a) The earliest possible settlement date (ie entitlement) - The Board rejected this alternative because it would have the result that a benefit classified as a short‑term employee benefit could be measured at an amount materially different from its present value. For example, this could occur if an employee is entitled to a benefit within twelve months, but the benefit is not expected to be settled until many years later.