Extra Super Step when Hiring New Employees

Ensuring that employee superannuation is correctly dealt with can be extremely confusing for many small businesses. One important new change to be aware of is that which has recently been put in place by the ATO.

The ATO has made an adjustment with the 'choice of fund' rules which means you might need to do something extra when a new employee starts to work for you.

Currently, if a new employee doesn't choose their own super fund, you can pay super contributions for them to your default fund. However, from 1 November, if you have new employees start and they don't choose a specific super fund, you may need to request their 'stapled super fund' details from the ATO.

A stapled super fund is an existing account which is linked, or 'stapled' to an individual employee, meaning that it follows them as they change jobs. This change aims to reduce the number of additional super accounts opened each time they start a new job.

You'll be able to request stapled super fund details for new employees using ATO Online services for business.

To get ready for this change, you can check and update the access levels of your business' authorised representatives in ATO Online services. This will mean you're ready to request stapled super funds if needed. It will also protect your employees' personal information.

What about employing contractors entitled to super guarantee contributions?

Under STP phase 1, contractors are not included in your STP pay events which means you will not have an employment link with them in the ATO systems. Instead, you will need to request a contractor’s stapled super fund details using the secure mail function in ATO Online services.

Many of these changes can be quite confusing at first and if you require any assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.