Superannuation Guarantee Rules for Employers 2026

Superannuation guarantee (SG) is the minimum super an employer must contribute for eligible workers. The general rate is 12% of qualifying earnings under Payday Super. Correct calculations and timely fund receipt both matter when you review your client’s payroll.

What the Superannuation Guarantee Requires

SG requires employers to contribute to eligible workers’ super, with a charge applying when they fail to meet the rules. Personal retirement saving is a separate decision. The word guarantee does not promise an investment return or a particular retirement balance.

The Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 defines the workers, earnings and contribution rules. It also governs shortfalls, assessments and recovery. The Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992 imposes the charge on an employer’s shortfall.

Use the legislation with Australian Taxation Office (ATO) guidance for the payment being reviewed. A payroll expense records a liability. Paying it requires a separate contribution.

Which Workers Qualify

Employees generally qualify for SG regardless of their earnings, including full-time, part-time and casual workers. There is no upper age limit. Receiving a pension while working does not remove eligibility.

An employee under 18 generally qualifies for a week in which they work more than 30 hours. Check each week separately. Exactly 30 hours does not meet that test. The ATO’s employer course explains these eligibility rules and the historical earnings threshold.

An ABN alone does not remove SG. Under the extended employee definition, a contract wholly or principally for the individual’s labour can create an entitlement. Examine personal performance, delegation rights and whether payment buys labour or an independently produced result. Creative Workplaces’ contractor guidance explains this distinction.

Keep the signed contract, variations, invoices and the parties’ legal identities. Record which terms support your conclusion, including any genuine delegation right and the split between labour and supplied materials. A contractor label on an invoice is insufficient evidence.

For a trust client, identify the trustee that engages the worker. Match the payroll obligation to that employer, rather than assuming every entity in the client group is interchangeable.

Which Earnings Count

Qualifying earnings are the contribution basis for paydays covered by Payday Super. Ordinary time earnings (OTE) remain relevant within that definition and for earlier quarterly obligations.

The ATO’s explanation of Payday Super includes OTE, all commissions, salary sacrifice contributions and payments to workers covered by the extended employee definition.

Ordinary-hours wages count. Under a labour contract covered by the extended definition, include the payment for the individual’s labour. Keep goods and materials separately identified.

Salary sacrificed to super stays in the supported earnings basis. The employee’s sacrificed contribution is separate from the employer’s minimum SG contribution. Count an earnings amount once even when it meets several parts of the definition.

Overtime for clearly identified hours outside ordinary hours generally falls outside the basis. A higher hourly rate alone does not establish that the hours are overtime. Read the award or agreement alongside the timesheet.

Allowances need their own classification. Identify what each payment compensates and whether it relates to ordinary hours or expenses. Keep the supporting clause with the pay-item decision. Do not apply a single super setting to every allowance because they share a payroll category.

AustralianSuper’s earnings guide distinguishes overtime, allowances and bonuses. Use the ATO’s qualifying-earnings guidance for the applicable payment categories.

Rates, Thresholds and Contribution Limits

The general SG rate is 12% for 2026-27. An award, agreement or employment contract can require more than the statutory minimum.

Historical General Rates

Use the rate for the original payment period when correcting earlier payroll. The ATO’s rates and thresholds schedule provides the history and separate Norfolk Island transitional rates.

Income year	General SG rate
2015-16	9.5%
2016-17	9.5%
2021-22	10%
2022-23	10.5%
2023-24	11%
2024-25	11.5%
2025-26	12%
2026-27	12%

The general legislated schedule remains at 12% for 2027-28 onwards. Payday Super changes payment timing and the earnings basis without introducing another general rate increase.

The former $450 monthly eligibility threshold is abolished. Historical corrections still require the eligibility rules that applied to the original period.

For 2026-27, the maximum contribution base is $270,830 of qualifying earnings per employee, per employer, for the financial year. Earlier quarterly obligations use their quarterly base. The 2025-26 base is $62,500 per quarter.

The individual concessional contributions cap is a different limit. The general cap for 2026-27 is $32,500 across concessional contributions, including employer and salary sacrifice contributions. Reaching it does not itself authorise an employer to stop SG.

A Hypothetical Contribution

Assume an eligible adult employee receives $4,000 of qualifying earnings for a fortnight. Earlier qualifying earnings from this employer total $40,000 for the financial year. The combined $44,000 is below the annual base.

The minimum contribution is $4,000 multiplied by 12%, which equals $480. The employee’s take-home pay after withholding does not replace the $4,000 calculation base.

If an agreed annual package of $112,000 includes only salary and 12% employer super, salary is $112,000 divided by 1.12, or $100,000. Employer super is $12,000. That calculation assumes the entire salary qualifies and the contribution base does not restrict it.

Read the contract before changing salary within a super-inclusive package. An employer cannot assume a statutory rate change permits a reduction in agreed cash pay.

When Contributions Reach the Fund

Under Payday Super, contributions generally must reach the employee’s fund within seven business days after payday, with enough information for allocation. A clearing-house receipt proves an intermediate step.

Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation’s payment guidance explains the standard deadline and exceptions. A qualifying first contribution for a new employee or changed fund can have 20 business days. Specified out-of-cycle payments can use the deadline attached to the next standard payday.

Exceptional-circumstance extensions require the applicable determination. A routine payroll error does not automatically extend the deadline. Other legal or fund requirements can require earlier payment.

Keep the payday, contribution file, bank payment reference, fund receipt and any rejection together. Business days use the statutory holiday definition, which can differ from the employer’s local working calendar.

Earlier quarterly periods retain their original rules. During the changeover, contribution allocation can affect which obligation a payment reduces. Use the ATO’s changeover explanation when matching legacy balances.

The Payday Super checklist covers the payroll changes needed to make these payments routinely.

Missed Payments and Recovery Vouchers

For a missing or short contribution, establish the unpaid amount and pay outstanding super to the correct fund promptly. For a rejected contribution, read the rejection, correct the details and resubmit. Keep both attempts.

A late ordinary contribution and an ATO charge assessment are separate records. Paying a shortfall does not automatically settle every charge component. Use the superannuation guarantee charge guide for the correction and assessment steps that apply to the original obligation.

A fund entry labelled superannuation guarantee voucher can relate to money distributed through ATO recovery. Treat the label as a reconciliation lead. It does not establish which employer or payroll period the payment covers.

The Australian National Audit Office’s recovery explanation describes the ATO collecting SG debt for payment to employees’ funds. Match a voucher entry to the ATO’s recovery correspondence and the fund’s transaction reference.

Ask the fund to identify the remitter and any linked adjustment. Then compare the gross recovered amount with the employer’s shortfall record. Keep an unmatched entry open instead of allocating it to the employee’s latest employer by assumption.

Reconcile the Employer’s Super Records

Reconcile the gross employer obligation to eligible fund receipts for each worker and payday. A payslip showing accrued super does not establish that the fund received it.

Use this hypothetical payroll file for an eligible adult employee under the standard Payday Super deadline. Assume no salary sacrifice, earlier unpaid balance or payment-allocation complication.

Check	Hypothetical record	Result
Worker	Adult employee with a recorded fund	Eligible
Earnings	$4,000 qualifying earnings	Basis agreed to payroll
Contribution base	$44,000 including this payday	Below annual limit
Liability	$4,000 multiplied by 12%	$480
Fund receipt	$450 received on the fifth business day	$30 unresolved
Follow-up	$30 outstanding contribution and charge review	File stays open

A net member credit requires another check. In a taxed fund, contributions tax is generally 15%. A gross $480 contribution less $72 tax leaves $408 before other transactions. WA Treasury’s contribution-tax explanation distinguishes that tax from the gross contribution.

Correct comparison: $480 liability against $480 gross employer contribution, with $72 tax recorded separately. Incorrect comparison: treating the $408 net credit as proof the employer underpaid $72.

Record the calculation basis and link the fund receipt to the payment reference. If the gross amount or allocation remains unexplained, assign the difference to a staff member and keep it open until the supporting record arrives.