Your super obligations

Empty heading

Under super laws, if you employ someone through a verbal or written contract, whether they're full-time, part-time or on casual, you must pay super for them (unless they are under 18 and work less than 30 hours per week). You may also need to pay super contributions for certain independent contractors. Find out more at the ATO website.

What you need to do

To meet your super obligations, you must:

• pay super for your eligible employees
• pay the right amount of super
• pay super to the right place (offer choice of fund and a default fund)
• pay super on time (each payday)
• pass on your employees' tax file numbers to their super fund(s)
• pay super electronically and meet SuperStream requirements
• keep accurate records.

Who to pay super for

You're generally required to pay super for employees who are employed on a full-time, part-time or casual basis (including contractors hired primarily for labour, even if they’re only working in Australia temporarily).

Visit ato.gov.au for further information.

How much super to pay

The Super Guarantee (SG) rate is 12% of qualifying earnings (QE). This is the minimum amount of super you need to pay each employee. Super is paid in addition to salary.

Where to pay super

Determining where to pay super depends on if your employee chooses their fund and if they have a stapled fund or not.

Employee choice

Most employees can choose their own super fund. To see if they’re eligible to choose a fund, you can check their industrial award of agreement. Visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website if you’re unsure which award or agreement applies.

If they’re eligible, you must:

• offer them a choice of fund, and
• provide a Standard choice form.

If your employee chooses a fund, you must pay contributions into that fund.

Stapled super funds

If a new employee doesn’t choose a fund, you must check with the ATO to see if they have an existing stapled super fund. You can request the employee’s stapled super fund right away and show it to them when you provide the choice form.

If they haven’t made a choice and have a stapled fund then you pay their super into their stapled fund. Where they don’t have a stapled fund, you pay their super into your default fund.

Your default super fund

As an employer, you must nominate a default super fund for your employees. If an employee doesn’t choose a fund and doesn’t have a stapled fund, you must pay into your default super fund.

Your default fund must:

• be a complying super fund (authorised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA))
• offer a MySuper product.

CareSuper is a complying, MySuper-authorised fund, so we can be your default fund. Our MySuper authorisation number is 74 559 365 913 178. You can also find our other fund identifiers like USI and ABN here.

When to pay super

You need to pay super each payday, whether that’s weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Find out more about Payday Super.

What to do with employee tax file numbers

You need to pass on your employee’s tax file number (TFN) to their super fund.

When your employee gives you their TFN, you must pass it on to their chosen super fund, either:

• on the day you first make a super contribution for that employee, or
• within 14 days of receiving it, if not available at the time of the first contribution

You must also ensure any third parties that manage your payroll or distribute super contributions pass on TFNs to other super funds too.

Tip: If you don’t provide an employee’s TFN to their super fund, they may pay extra tax on their contributions, won’t be able to make personal contributions and will miss out on government super incentives. You may also face penalties.

You can provide TFNs through your usual payment method, such as a clearing house or your payroll provider. Simply add your employee’s TFN to their details when you next make a contribution.

To supply a TFN for an employee with a CareSuper account, give us a call on 1800 005 166.

Meeting SuperStream requirements

Under the government’s SuperStream legislation, you can only send data and make payments electronically, using approved options. You can’t pay by cheque or send contributions breakdowns by post or email.

There are many ATO-compliant options to enable you to make super contributions for your employees. Find out more at ato.gov.au.

We offer a free¹ clearing house service, QuickSuper,² to all registered CareSuper employers. QuickSuper is a secure, easy-to-use solution provided by Westpac and is SuperStream-compliant. Set up QuickSuper now.

Putting the right super info on payslips

Your employee payslips must include:

• the amount of contributions made during the pay period (or the amount of contributions that are due to be made)
• the name of the super fund that the contributions were paid into.

Record keeping

Keep records of your super payments for at least five years, including:

• super contributions made and details of how much you paid for each employee
• how contributions were calculated
• evidence that eligible employees were offered a choice of fund.

Even if you're using a clearing house, you'll still need to keep your own records.

What is super stapling

Australian workers are now 'stapled' to their existing super fund or the first super fund they join. It applies to all employees.

Stapling legislation requires employers to make SG contributions to their new employee’s existing super fund unless otherwise instructed. The employee can still choose to join the employer’s default fund or another eligible fund.

Stapling aims to reduce the number of super accounts Australians accrue throughout their working lives and eliminate unnecessary fees for multiple accounts.