Superannuation Warning - “Is your employer paying your superannuation”
September 8, 2008 by Josie Kay
Q. On your radio program you mentioned for workers to check that their co-contributions are being paid as per the ATO rules.
Could you please give a little more info?
Josie’s answer: Yes, everyone needs to check that their employer is actually paying superannuation into their nominated superannuation fund.
For the thousands of people who read this blog, the best way to do this is to check your pay slip, which should have details of the funds where it is being remitted and then also ring the super fund to get confirmation.
Many super funds these days allow you to access your information online, which would be easier. If there is no record of a contribution, then I would contact the pay office and ask why.
Employers have an obligation to pay every three months, although most of them do it monthly. Also, check that you are eligible to receive the contribution in the first place, e.g. if you earn less than $450 in a month, then they don’t have an obligation to pay.
If you still smell a rat, ring the Australian Tax Office on 13 10 20 and report them. For some strange reason, some people don’t connect that super is their money. They would certainly be jumping up and down if their salary wasn’t deposited into their bank account.
Again thanks for sharing your story. I greatly appreciate it. Josie Kay
Photo Credit: Forest Pines
Josie’s Money Saving Links:
Click Here to compare car hire rates from Avis, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty and Europcar*
Receive all the latest travel news with Travelworld Holiday Club. You’ll be the first to know about a host of
domestic and international flights, hotels, car rentals and travel information as well as the chance to win fantastic prizes*.
If you liked this post please consider linking to it by highlighting the code below and putting it on your blog or website. The code has been written to link back to this page.
.
[...] My son worked at Macdonalds for 4 years and has a superannuation with employer contributions. He is now doing full time study at uni. Should he do something with this superannuation before it [...]
[...] Particularly helpful if the budget is really tight and you can’t afford insurance because the premiums are being paid by the amounts that your employer has contributed on your behalf (the 9% super guarantee) or, perhaps you are salary sacrificing. These contributions are [...]
When I found out my employer was not paying my superannuation, I rang the ATO - and they did nothing about it.
My employer went into liquidation owing me thousands in superannuation.
I again rang the ATO who told me that if they prosecuted every employer in Australia that was not paying superannuation, they would send the companies to the wall, and so they do not prosecute.
I took the matter up with my local member, who then had the matter addressed in parliament (under the Howard govt at the time) and received a letter back stating they could do nothing about it.
I wonder is there any point in reporting them if even parliament cannot intervene.
Dear VW
I can understand why you must be so frustrated with the whole system. It is a joke. If your employer went into liquidation, then obviously there is no money left to pay outstanding superannuation liabilities.
The lesson here is to check on a regular basis (at least every three months) that money has been contributed to your superannuation fund. This is easily done these days via the internet. The longer you leave it, the harder it is to extract dollars out of them. Although, I acknowledge it is not foolproof.
I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.
Josie