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Your responsibilities as an employer
Super is an important part of your employees’ benefits . Employers must put a minimum amount, called the Superannuation Guarantee (SG), into an employee’s super account to build their retirement savings.
That’s why you need to contribute the right amount, on time – and give us the correct details for each one of your employees.
The information we have about your employees can also affect any insurance cover they have in their super. So, if an employee leaves, or there are changes to their employment status, salary, personal details, or contact information, you need to tell us straight away.
Here’s a quick rundown on your responsibilities.
Employer responsibilities checklist
Here’s an overview of your responsibilities when it comes to super – and why they’re important.
As of 1 July 2023, you must pay 11% of your employees’ salary* as SG contributions to your employees’ super accounts. This is done quarterly.
Businesses that don’t make super payments risk being issued with a non-deductible superannuation guarantee charge for the amount of underpayment, plus significant additional penalties and charges.
*The SG rate is 11.5% from 1 July 2024, and 12% from 1 July 2025.
From time-to-time, we need to let members know about changes to their account. If we can’t contact your employees, they may miss out on important information or lose benefits.
Also, if we send a member’s mail to the wrong address, their super may be recorded as lost and could end up with the ATO. This means they’ll lose their insurance inside their super – and miss out on valuable future investment returns.
Depending on your insurance arrangements, employees’ salaries can affect their levels of insurance cover – so it’s important you notify us of any changes. You should exclude the SG contribution amount when you tell us what their salary is.
Workers are classified under different occupation groups depending on the nature of their job.
The occupation group they’re placed into may affect how much they pay in insurance premiums.
Salary continuance insurance (also known as income protection) is only available for permanent employees and fixed term contractors working at least 15 hours per week.
We need to be notified of employees’ hours to ensure they’re not paying for insurance they are not eligible for.
If an employee leaves your company, please advise us and we will move them to the retained benefits category. This lets them keep their super benefits and can help us keep membership fees down.
Setting up new employees
Your employees can choose their own super fund, as long as it complies with super legislation.
It’s important to set up your new employee promptly. If you don’t set up their super within three months of them joining your business, they may not be eligible for full insurance cover.
Setting up new employees is easy with FirstChoice Employer Super. Simply log on to our secure online portal, and enter:
- their personal details, including their contact details
- their salary
- their category
- their occupation group
- whether they’re full time, part time or casual.
Check your employee’s birth date!
To make sure we put your new employee in the correct Lifestage investment option and their insurance premiums are being correctly calculated, check your employee’s date of birth before entering it.
How often should you make contributions?
Legally, you need to pay SG contributions at least quarterly (28 days after the end of each financial quarter), but you can make them more frequently. For example, you could make contributions fortnightly or monthly, depending on your company’s payment cycle.
Please note – the government has proposed that from 1 July 2026 all employers will be required to pay their employees’ super at the same time as their salary and wages.
What happens if a super payment is missed?
If you don’t pay your super contributions by the due date, you risk being issued with a SG charge. The SG charge includes the amount of the underpayment plus several additional penalties and charges. The SG charge is non-deductible and may be significantly higher than the original SG liability.
You pay the SG charge (SGC) directly to the ATO. You also need to lodge an SGC statement with them.
Passing on your employees’ tax file number (TFN)
If you make contributions to FirstChoice Employer Super for your employees, they must complete a TFN declaration. You need to pass this onto us within 14 days of receiving your employee’s TFN declaration form.
If you don’t, you are not fulfilling your obligations as an employer.
As a result:
- you may have to pay a penalty
- we may have to take out extra tax from your employees’ contributions
- your employee won’t be able to make personal contributions
- your employee may miss out on super co-contribution payments.
What do you do if an employee has a stapled super fund?
A new employee may have a ‘stapled’ super fund – in other words, their super fund is linked to them so that if they change jobs, their account follows.
If you have a new employee with a stapled super fund who doesn’t want to join your default fund, or if you’re unsure whether they have a stapled fund, you need to:
- contact the ATO
- ask for the new employees’ stapled super fund details.
If an employee chooses a super fund after you have requested stapled super fund details, you need to start paying contributions into that fund within two months.
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Avanteos Investments Limited ABN 20 096 259 979, AFSL 245531 (AIL) is the trustee of the Colonial First State FirstChoice Superannuation Trust ABN 26 458 298 557 and issuer of FirstChoice range of super and pension products. Colonial First State Investments Limited ABN 98 002 348 352, AFSL 232468 (CFSIL) is the responsible entity and issuer of products made available under FirstChoice Investments and FirstChoice Wholesale Investments.Information on this webpage is provided by AIL and CFSIL. It may include general advice but does not consider your individual objectives, financial situation, needs or tax circumstances. You can find the target market determinations (TMD) for our financial products at www.cfs.com.au/tmd, which include a description of who a financial product might suit. You should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) carefully, assess whether the information is appropriate for you, and consider talking to a financial adviser before making an investment decision. You can get the PDS and FSG at www.cfs.com.au or by calling us on 13 13 36. Past performance is no indication of future performance.