How you can be ready for stapling
09 September 2021
5
min read
Your employees’ super fund will follow them when they change jobs from 1 November 2021. Here are 3 steps you may need to take to be ready for ‘stapling’.
For most employers, from 1 November 2021, if you have a new employee start with your business, you may need to take new steps to comply with choice of fund rules if that employee doesn’t choose a super fund to receive contributions.
This may involve you requesting the employee’s ‘stapled’ super fund details from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Stapling explained
Stapling is an Australian Government superannuation reform that means an existing super account is linked, or 'stapled', to an individual employee so that it follows them as they change jobs.1
If an employee doesn’t nominate a super account when they start a new job, an employer pays their superannuation contributions into their existing ‘stapled’ fund.
The change aims to reduce account fees, reduce unnecessary erosion of super and creation of multiple accounts by stopping an employee opening a new super account every time they start a new job.
If you don't meet your choice of super fund obligations under these changes, you may have to pay additional penalties or charges on top of the Super Guarantee Charge (SGC). There are instances where employers are deemed to meet the new requirements in respect of contributions made for their employees and you should seek advice to ascertain your obligations.
How your employee onboarding process may change:
Here’s how you can make sure you comply with the rules:
To make sure you're ready to request stapled super fund details, the ATO recommends you check and update the access levels of your authorised representatives in ATO online services. This will also protect your employees’ personal information.2
The ATO’s online services allow you to access a range of tax and super services in one place, such as lodging your activity statements, tax returns and employment documents.
Step 2: Before you make a request Show content
Before you can request details of an employee's stapled super fund, you must have lodged either a:
- Single Touch Payroll event
- Tax file number (TFN) declaration.
Step 3: Making a request
Show content
1. Log in to ATO online services
2. Enter your employee's details, including:
- Tax File Number, or an exemption code where an employee cannot provide their TFN
- Full name, including ‘other given name’ if known
- Birth date
- Address (residential or postal), if TFN not given.
3. Receive an on-screen response in online services and confirmation that the ATO will notify your employee that you have made a stapled super fund request, as well as the fund details that the ATO provided.
If you need to request stapled super fund details for more than 100 new employees at once, the ATO can provide a bulk request form.
More details are available from the ATO. We’ll also update resources online closer to the deadline, to help you understand your obligations.
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Contact us for more information, resources and solutions.
1. Received Assent on 22 June 2021, Treasury Laws Amendment, (Your Future, Your Super) Bill 2021, Parliament of Australia at aph.gov.au
2. ATO, 11 August 2021, Request stapled super fund details for employees, Super for employers at ato.gov.au