Superannuation is a key part of Australia’s employment landscape. As an employer, meeting your super obligations isn’t just about compliance — it’s about supporting your team’s financial future. Understanding when and how to pay super helps you stay on top of your responsibilities and avoid costly penalties down the track.
When Are You Required to Pay Super?
Generally, you must pay superannuation contributions for the following:
- Employees – including full-time, part-time and casual staff.
- Some contractors – if they are paid predominantly for their labour. The amount of superannuation payable to these contractors is the super guarantee percentage on all ordinary time earnings, which is the labour component of the contract. This excludes payments for material and equipment, overtime where contractor was paid overtime rates & GST.
Superannuation payments must be made to any worker who is over the age of 18, or any worker under the age of 18 that works more than 30 hours in a week.
The current Super Guarantee Rate is 12% as of 1 July 2025. Prior to this, from 1 July 2024 to 1 July 2025 the rate was 11.5%. This is the percentage of a worker’s ordinary time earnings that needs to be paid in superannuation.
When to Pay and What Happens If You Don’t
It is important that you know the super payment due dates to ensure that penalties, interest and fees are avoided where possible. The super payment due dates for the 2026 financial year are as follows:
These due dates will be changing for the 2026 financial year with the introduction of the ‘Payday Superannuation’ as of 1 July 2026.
What to do if super is paid late?
While it is not the end of the world if super is paid to your workers late, it will involve the lodgement of a Super Guarantee Charge (SGC) form and the loss of the deductibility of the late super payments.
An SGC form will involving the following aspects:
- SG Shortfall – this is the total super payable per employee for the quarter based on their ordinary hours, including any overtime hours. While super is not normally applicable to overtime hours, it is included in SGC form calculations. This is a penalty for the late payment of super.
- Late Payment offsets – This is where you include the amount of super that was paid late relating to the quarter being processed. This amount will be taken off the SG shortfall amount. The remaining balance will be super that remains unpaid (if any). There is a $20 administrative fee per employee and a 10% nominal interest charge calculated daily that will then be added to the total payable amount.
It is important to note that these late payments of super, SGC fees & interest are not tax deductible.
How to Pay Super
When it comes to processing and paying your employees super, utilising a super clearing house can be an effective way to minimise the risk of Super Guarantee Charge. These clearing houses can be in the form of the ATO’s Small Business Clearing house or your chosen payroll/accounting software.
The ATO’s Small Business Clearing house (SBSCH) is available for small business with 19 or less employees or an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million. The SBSCH allows you to pay all your employees with a single payment that will then be distributed to each employee’s superfund.
Using a software such as Xero or MYOB to process and pay super is also an effective way to maintain your superannuation obligations. It is important to ensure that all employees are set up correctly with the correct superannuation guarantee rate.
What to do if an employee doesn’t provide super fund details
If an employee does not provide their super fund details, it is your responsibility as the employer to request their stapled super fund details from the ATO. This is the existing super fund details linked the employee. You are able to request this information from the ATO via the ATO online services for business.
Record-Keeping Obligations
Employers must maintain the following information relating to superannuation obligation & payments:
- Records showing how super obligations were calculated
- Records showing eligible employees were given a choice of super fund – e.g. Completed superannuation standard choice form.
These records must be kept for 5 years. See below for more information regarding your record keeping obligation as an employer.
Staying on top of your superannuation obligations protects your business. We recommend that you:
- Regularly take the time to review your payroll software and super obligations. This includes ensuring your employee information is accurate & up to date.
- Consider paying your employees & eligible contractors superannuation more regularly, most often weekly or monthly. This will minimise the risk of late super payments and assist in reducing cashflow issues.
- Reach out to the team here at MJJ for assistance with any software setup assistance or compliance checks on your business’s current super obligations.
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