Payday super

Payday Super legislation

Payday Super requires employers to pay their employees’ super at the same time as their salary and wages, changing how employers calculate their employees’ superannuation guarantee (SG).

According to the Treasury, employers’ payroll management will be made smoother by this change, and will help employees to track their super more easily. To strengthen the system, the ATO will receive more resourcing to help it detect unpaid super payments.

Key Payday Super changes include:

• SG is calculated as 12% of Qualifying Earnings (QE), and QE includes ordinary time earnings (OTE) and other payments.
• SG payments must be paid to an employee’s super fund at the same time as paying QE, on payday, and typically must be received by an employee’s super fund within 7 business days of the employee’s payday.
• A new employee’s SG must be received by their super fund within 20 business days after the new employee’s first QE payday.
• An updated SG charge and penalty framework will apply.
• The ATO’s Small Business Clearing House (SBSCH) closed on 30 June 2026 so existing users need to transition to another option to pay employees’ super.
• Employee data and payment processing will be improved and provide better error messaging to help employers address errors quickly.

What is 'Qualifying Earnings'?

Qualifying Earnings (QE) is a new name for the types of payments an employer makes to employees that are used to calculate SG under Payday Super.

Qualifying Earnings include:

• Ordinary time earnings (OTE) as per previous SG rules
• Salary sacrifice or any portion of earnings that an employee has sacrificed for extra super contributions
• Commissions paid to an employee
• Earnings paid to workers who come within the expanded definition of employee, including payments to independent contractors paid mainly for their labour.

New SG charge and penalty framework

Employers that don't pay their employees' SG in full and on time, or do not correctly follow choice of funds rules, will be liable to pay the SG charge (SGC). SGC will consist of:

• individual SG shortfall amount
• notional earnings (general interest charge which accrues daily)
• administrative uplift (penalty component)
• choice loadings (if choice of fund rules are breached).

If an employer does not pay all super entitlements within 28 days of receiving a Notice to Pay from the ATO, a late payment penalty applies for any outstanding SGC amount.

Employers can claim a tax deduction for an SGC amount that they have paid, but not for any general interest that accrues on the SGC or for a late payment penalty.

As an employer, what do I need to do?

• Check your clearing house and payroll system supports real time SG payments
• Check your employee data is up to date, correct, and no data points are missing
• Ensure super choice is obtained early in your new employee onboarding process
• Monitor payments to ensure they are compliant.

Making payments during the Payday Super transition

With Payday Super starting on 1 July 2026, employers who currently pay Super Guarantee (SG) contributions quarterly will need to manage both quarterly and Payday Super obligations in July.

For the June quarter (1 April – 30 June 2026), you’ll still have until 28 July 2026 to make SG contributions.

For more information, see the below ATO resources:

• ATO’s Payday Super
• What Payday Super means for employers (video)
• Data and payment methods