do you have unpaid super?

There are steps you can take if you think your employer isn’t paying your super, or isn’t paying you enough super.

Thanks to the super guarantee, most of us working in Australia are entitled to superannuation. So, if you work for someone, are aged over 18 and earn more than $450 a month, that’s you. And it doesn’t matter if you work full time, part time, casually or if you’re a temporary resident, you get super.

Super is paid into your account at a rate of 9.5 per cent of your salary. As part of the super guarantee, employers must pay super contributions at least four times a year. Even though it may be a long time until you can get your hands on it, remember that super is your money. So it’s in your best interests to check you’re getting every dollar that’s due to you.

Check you’re being paid

The easiest way to check you’re being paid super is to log in to your super account and have a look at transactions or recent activity over the year. It should clearly show regular contributions going in.

If you don’t have online access, check your most recent statement and look at the transactions. Otherwise, contact your super fund directly.

If things don’t look quite right

While most employers try to do the right thing, they sometimes miss payments or stop paying. If you don’t see money going in, or there’s not as much going in as you expect, you’re going to need to bring this up with your employer. Conversations about money can be difficult, so keep it simple by asking these three questions:

1. How often are you paying my super?
2. How much super are you paying me?
3. Which fund are you paying my super into?

If you don’t get a good outcome from your conversation, the next step is to report unpaid super to the Australian Tax Office (ATO). They will then investigate your unpaid super for you. You’ll need to provide your tax file number as well as your employer’s details such as their Australian Business Number (ABN). This can be usually be found on your payslip or by searching on ABN Lookup. The tax office can also investigate unpaid super confidentially.