If your employer hasn't paid your super
As an employee or independent contractor paid mainly for your labour, you're entitled to be paid mandatory super from your employer.
Employers who don't pay super contributions in full, on time and to the right fund must pay the super guarantee charge (SGC) to us. We then pay the super and interest into your super account.
If you suspect your employer hasn't paid your super in full, on time and to the right fund, there are steps you can take.
Unpaid super – what you can do
If you think your employer isn’t paying your super correctly, follow these steps:
Step 1: Are you entitled to super?
Use our Am I entitled to super? tool to check you're entitled to super.
If you are entitled to super, go to Step 2.
Step 2: Has your super been paid in full to the right fund?
Check how much super has been paid into your super account.
- Check with your super fund, by:
- checking your member statements from your super fund
- phoning your super fund
- keeping track of your super online using ATO online services for super contributions paid into your super fund by your employer and reported to us.
- Ask your employer or previous employer:
- when they paid your super
- which super fund they paid to
- how much they paid.
If your super has been paid in full but into the wrong fund, check whether you can choose a super fund. If so, check whether the payments have been paid into the fund you nominated on your Superannuation standard choice form (NAT 13080).
If your super hasn't been paid in full or to the right fund, go to Step 3.
Step 3: Calculate your super entitlements
You can use the Estimate my super calculator to work out your super entitlement. If you believe you haven't been paid the right amount, go to Step 4.
Step 4: Report unpaid super
If you've confirmed your super hasn't been paid correctly and you have completed all the checks in the above 3 steps, you can use our online tool to Report unpaid super contributions from my employer.
Note: If you're an independent contractor and believe you're entitled to super as an employee, it's important to first review your personal income tax returns. If you've claimed business income and deductions, this may affect whether you're considered an employee for super purposes. Penalties may apply if you deliberately misrepresented the information supplied in your tax return.
What we do next
We'll inform you by letter or email if we're able to collect any unpaid super and distribute it to your super fund. This process may take some time, and not every referral results in the collection of unpaid super.
Other ways to claim your unpaid super
As well as reporting your employer to us, there are other ways you can try to claim unpaid super from your employer:
- The Fair Work OmbudsmanExternal Link (FWO) may be able to help you if you haven't received all your workplace conditions and entitlements. They may get you to complete a wages and conditions claim form and pursue your entitlements on your behalf, including going to court. The ATO can only investigate shortfalls in contributions that are required under the SG rate. Any entitlement you have above the SG rate (such as may be provided under an industrial award) is a matter for the FWO.
- Some investigations result in the FWO receiving payments from employers for outstanding wages and entitlements. You can Search for unpaid wagesExternal Link in the FWO database to find out if your employer paid the Australian Government money owed to you.
- If you're employed under the National workplace relations systemExternal Link, you can seek an order from an eligible court under the Fair Work Act 2009. This includes people who are or were employed in any state or territory other than Western Australia, or by a company in Western Australia or under a federal award or agreement.
- If you're employed under one of the state industrial relations systems (in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania or Western Australia), each state has laws that enable the courts to order your employer to pay the shortfall amount to your super fund.
Steps we take to pursue unpaid super
The ATO is committed to protecting workers and their retirement savings. We take unpaid super seriously and have a focused review and audit program.
We use multiple data sources to help identify non-compliance including Single Touch Payroll (STP), super fund reporting, employee and third-party referrals. We have invested in expanding our data matching capabilities at scale to proactively identify non-compliance including non, under or late payment of super for earlier intervention.
We undertake a range of actions including:
- reminding employers of super payment due dates
- nudging employers who have underpaid or paid super late, to correct their obligations
- taking firmer action through reviews and audits for those employers unwilling to meet their obligations.
Pursuing SGC debt from an employer
If your employer can’t pay the amount they owe in full, they may be able to set up a payment plan with us. Any payments we receive are used to pay the employer's oldest debt first. The amounts collected are shared equally between affected employees super accounts.
We may take steps to pursue the SGC debt from an employer if they do not pay, but recovery is not always possible and may take some time. In some situations, we may:
- issue director penalty notices – this makes the director personally liable for the debt
- issue garnishee notices – amounts may be garnisheed from banks, financial institutions, trade debtors and suppliers of merchant card facilities
- use any credits or refunds an employer is entitled to, to recover the debt
- disclose the business tax debt to a credit reporting bureau
- take legal action.
If your employer goes bankrupt or becomes insolvent
If your employer goes bankrupt or insolvent, an insolvency practitioner is appointed. They are required to report any unpaid super by lodging an SGC statement with us.
For insolvency and bankruptcy matters, SGC is required to be paid before payments to ordinary unsecured creditors. It ranks equally with employees' entitlements for wages and super contributions. This means if there are sufficient funds or assets available, the insolvency practitioner will pay the SGC to us.
From 1 July 2024, the insolvency practitioner may apply for funding through Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG) Recovery ProgramExternal Link to recover unpaid SGC amounts owed by employers where certain criteria are met. If they are successful in recovering SGC, the insolvency practitioner will pay the SGC to us.