Approximately 2.4 million workers in Australia are missing out on some or all of their super payments, according to a report from Industry Super Australia.

Australian employers are responsible for ensuring at least 9.5% of their workers earnings over $450 are contributed into super. These contributions are due to be paid by the 28th of the month following the end of each quarter.

This problem is exacerbated by a loophole in which employers are able to pay less super into the accounts of employees who make additional contributions via salary sacrifice.
Because the obligations around the payment of employees’ salary sacrifice and post tax super contributions are not defined, some employers are either delaying all super payments or delaying the payments of employees own super contributions.

According to the report, those most likely to miss out on super were said to be young workers, low-income earns and workers in construction, hospitality and the cleaning industries.

It’s estimated that on average, underpaid workers missed out on $1,489 or almost 4 months of payments from super non compliance.
The Senate announced on 1 December 2016 that it will conduct an inquiry into super non payments.

Underpaying your staff wages and super payments can lead to massive penalties, reputational risk and brand damage so it’s important to meet your super guarantee obligations as an employer. 

The most significant problem however, is that it undermines the trust between a business and its employees. It isn’t ideal to place individual employees in a position to chase employers for entitlements and payments.

If you're wanting to ensure that your Super is properly managed, get in touch with our team for more information on fully compliant solutions.