Superannuation guarantee (SG rate)

The super guarantee is the minimum amount of super you have to pay to your people by law. It's a set rate that you use to work out super payments, based on your employee's ordinary time earnings (OTE).

If you don't pay it, you'll have to pay a fine. It's called the super guarantee charge.

You need to make super guarantee contributions at least 4 times a year (quarterly). Some super funds and industry awards need you to pay super more often.

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Yes. You need to pay super guarantee contributions to casual employees by law.

Not if you know exactly how much overtime your employee worked. Even if it's regular, frequent, or bundled into their total salary package.

But if you’re not sure of the exact amount, you’ll have to pay the super guarantee rate for all of the hours your employee worked that day.

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Yes, if the bonus is for something during your employee's normal hours of work.

But if it's a bonus for work in overtime hours, you don't need to pay super on it.

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Yes. You should be paying the super guarantee rate while people are on long service leave.

But if they ask to take their long service leave as a payout (like when they resign or retire), you don’t need to pay the SG rate.

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You don't have to make SG contributions even though you pay your employee the national minimum wage for up to 20 weeks while they're on Centrelink's paid parental leave. But you can make voluntary super contributions.

If you offer extra paid parental leave, it’s a good idea to check with the ATO if you need to pay super. It can depend on your award, employee agreement/contract, or super fund rules.

The superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) is a fine you have to pay if you don't pay your people's super on time and to the right fund. It's on top of your employee contributions and it's not tax deductible. And you'll also need to send an SGC statement to the ATO.

You'll have to pay more charges if you keep missing payments. So it's a good idea to keep track of the payment deadlines.

You’ll still have to pay your people any super you were late paying too.