Payday Super FAQs

Payday Super requires employers to calculate super guarantee at each payday and ensure the contribution reaches the employee’s super fund within the required timeframe.

For most payments, the fund must receive the contribution within seven business days after payday.

Yes. For earnings paid from 1 July 2026, employers can no longer wait until the end of the quarter to pay the minimum super guarantee. 

Super now follows the business’s existing pay cycle. If employees are paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly, their super must be processed for each of those paydays.

No. Payday Super does not require you to change your wage payment cycle.

It changes when super must be paid. Your super process now needs to follow your existing payroll cycle.

No. The statutory super guarantee rate remains 12%.

The move to “qualifying earnings” means some employers may need to review how particular payments are treated. Employment contracts, awards or enterprise agreements may also require contributions above the statutory minimum. 

Yes. The rules apply to businesses of all sizes that have super guarantee obligations. 

There is no exemption simply because a business has a small number of employees or a lower turnover.

Super guarantee generally applies to eligible:

• Full-time employees
• Part-time employees
• Casual employees
• Temporary residents
• Some contractors who are paid mainly for their labour

The rules apply regardless of whether the employee is permanent or casual.

An employee under 18 is generally entitled to super if they work more than 30 hours in a week. 

Their hours should be monitored carefully, particularly where they work irregular shifts.

It may. A contractor can be treated as an employee for super guarantee purposes when they are paid mainly for their personal labour and skills. This may apply even if the contractor: 

• Has an ABN
• Submits invoices
• Calls themselves a contractor
• Has a written contractor agreement

Contractor arrangements should be reviewed based on how the work is performed and what the contractor is being paid to provide.

A director may be treated as an employee for super guarantee purposes where they receive payments for their work. This depends on the company arrangement and the nature of the payment. Speak with your Team Twomeys adviser if you are unsure how a director’s remuneration should be treated.

Qualifying earnings, or QE, are the payments used to calculate super guarantee under Payday Super. 

They include ordinary time earnings and certain additional amounts specified under the new rules.

Ordinary time earnings remain part of the calculation. Payday Super brings them into the broader concept of qualifying earnings. 

Qualifying earnings can also include: 

• All commissions
• Certain salary-sacrificed amounts
• Payments to contractors who are employees for super purposes
• Other payments that already attract super under the ordinary time earnings rules

Your payroll categories should reflect the correct treatment of each payment. 

All commissions are included in qualifying earnings under Payday Super, including some commissions that may previously have fallen outside ordinary time earnings.

An amount sacrificed into super is generally added back to qualifying earnings if it would otherwise have been paid to the employee as earnings. 

Salary sacrifice cannot be used to reduce the employer’s minimum super guarantee obligation.

Some do, depending on the nature of the payment. 

Ordinary wages, paid leave and many allowances and bonuses may form part of ordinary time earnings and therefore qualifying earnings. The correct treatment depends on why the amount was paid and the employee’s ordinary hours and conditions.

Genuine overtime paid for work outside ordinary hours is generally not ordinary time earnings. 

However, a payment should not be treated as overtime simply because it has been labelled that way in payroll. The employment arrangement and actual hours worked need to support the classification.

Annual leave pay generally forms part of qualifying earnings. Annual leave loading may require a closer review depending on whether it relates to lost overtime or ordinary hours.

Not every amount paid when employment ends attracts super. 

The treatment can differ between ordinary wages, leave payments, payments in lieu of notice, bonuses and employment termination payments. Review the payment components before processing the final pay.

No. The contribution generally needs to be received by the super fund within 7 days. 

The date you initiate the payment is not necessarily the date it is received. Allow for bank, clearing house and fund processing times.

Processing super on payday gives you more time to identify and correct problems before the seven-business-day deadline. 

Waiting until the end of the allowed period leaves little time to deal with rejected payments, incorrect member details or processing delays.

Yes. Using a clearing house does not extend the deadline. 

The contribution must still reach the employee’s super fund within the required period, so you need to understand your provider’s cut-off and processing times.

Yes. A 20-business-day period can apply in limited situations, including: 

• The first contribution for a new employee
• The first contribution after an employee asks you to pay a different super fund

Later contributions may also receive additional time where their normal deadline falls before the extended first-payment deadline.

You may need to request the employee’s stapled super fund details from the ATO or use your default fund where the relevant rules permit it. 

Do not leave this until the payment deadline. Missing or incorrect fund details can delay the contribution.

The error should be investigated and corrected straight away. 

Super funds generally have three business days to allocate a contribution to the member’s account or return it. A rejected payment can leave very little time to correct the employee or fund information before the original employer deadline.

You should not assume that it does. 

The employer’s deadline is based on the relevant payday. This is why member numbers, fund details, employee names and identifying information should be checked before processing contributions.

An additional wage payment can create a separate qualifying earnings day and super obligation. 

Back pay, commissions, bonuses and payroll corrections should be reviewed when they are processed rather than left until a later pay cycle. Ask your Team Twomeys adviser to confirm the deadline where the payment falls outside your normal payroll cycle.

You now need another SuperStream-compliant payment method. 

This may be available through your payroll system, your business’s default super fund or an independent commercial clearing house. Check the provider’s processing times and confirm that contributions can reach funds within the Payday Super deadline.

Access to the SBSCH ended when it closed. Businesses were asked to download their records before 30 June 2026. 

Speak with your Team Twomeys adviser if you need help identifying what alternative records may be available through your accounting records, bank account or employee super funds.

Yes. Employers report qualifying earnings and the associated super liability through Single Touch Payroll for each pay cycle. 

Your STP report remains due on or before the day employees are paid.

The ATO can compare: 

• Qualifying earnings and super liabilities reported through STP
• Contribution information reported by super funds
• Payment dates and amounts
• Employer and employee identifying information

Accurate and consistent payroll, STP and super fund data is therefore important.

Review: 

• Full legal names
• Dates of birth
• Tax file number details
• Super fund names and identifiers
• Member account numbers
• Employee fund choices
• Employment status and eligibility
• Payroll categories and pay codes

Incorrect information can result in contributions being delayed or returned.

Keep clear records of: 

• Qualifying earnings calculations
• Super liabilities reported through STP
• Contributions submitted and received
• Clearing house reports
• Rejected or returned payments
• Steps taken to correct errors
• Employee fund choices and related correspondence

Good records can help explain what occurred if the ATO identifies a difference.

The employer may become liable for the super guarantee charge, or SGC. Under Payday Super, the charge can include: 

• The unpaid super amount
• Notional earnings on the shortfall
• An administrative uplift
• Further penalties or interest in some circumstances

The amount can be higher than the contribution that should originally have been paid.

The SGC relating to qualifying earnings days from 1 July 2026 is generally tax deductible, including its main components. 

This differs from the treatment that applied to SGC under the earlier quarterly system. Additional penalties or interest for failing to pay an assessed charge may have different tax treatment.

The previous late payment offset is not available under Payday Super. 

This makes it important to correct missed contributions promptly and follow the current disclosure process.

Act quickly: 

• Work out which employees and paydays were affected
• Correct the contribution as soon as possible
• Keep evidence of the cause and the steps taken
• Check whether a voluntary disclosure is required
• Contact your Team Twomeys adviser before assuming the matter is resolved

Delaying action can increase the cost and the compliance risk.

It may change the timing of cash leaving the business. 

Businesses that previously held super liabilities until the end of each quarter now need to fund contributions with every payroll. The annual statutory rate may not have increased, but the available cash buffer between payroll and super payment has reduced. 

Cash flow forecasts should include wages, PAYG withholding and super on the same payroll rhythm.

We recommend checking: 

• Employee and contractor eligibility
• Payroll categories and qualifying earnings treatment
• Employee and fund information
• The timing of payroll and super processing
• Clearing house processing times
• STP reporting
• Cash flow for each pay cycle
• Procedures for rejected payments
• Responsibilities between payroll staff, bookkeepers and business owners
• How missed or late payments will be identified and escalated

Team Twomeys can help you: 

• Review how Payday Super applies to your business
• Check employee and contractor arrangements
• Review payroll categories and qualifying earnings
• Assess your super payment process
• Understand cash flow implications
• Identify reporting or data issues
• Respond to rejected, missed or late contributions
• Work through ATO correspondence or SGC obligations

If you are uncertain about any part of your process, speak with your Twomeys adviser before the next pay run.