The ATO released the article below regarding the changes to Super Choice Rules from 1 November. It’s to stop people’s super from being eroded by fees, when each successive employer pays into a different super fund.
Super choice rules will change from 1 November
You’ll have an extra step to take if you have new employees who start from 1 November 2021 and they don’t choose a super fund. You may now need to request their ‘stapled super fund’ details from the ATO.
A stapled super fund is an existing super account of an employee that follows them as they change jobs. This change aims to stop your new employees from paying extra account fees for unintended super accounts set up when they start a new job.
What you need to know
You may need to request stapled super fund details when:
- your new employee starts on or after 1 November 2021
- you need to make super guarantee payments for that employee, and
- your employee is eligible to choose a super fund but doesn’t
You may still need to request stapled super fund details for some employees even though you don’t need to offer them a choice of super fund. This includes if your employees are temporary residents or they’re covered by an Enterprise Agreement or Workplace Determination made before 1 January 2021.
You and your representatives can request stapled super fund details for your employees if you have full access to Online services for business. You need to review and update these accesses to protect the privacy and safety of your employees’ personal information.
You must meet your choice of super fund requirements and any stapled super fund obligations by the quarterly due date or you may face penalties.
What you need to do from 1 November 2021
Step 1: Offer your eligible employees a choice of super fund
You need to give your eligible new employees a Super standard choice form and pay their super into the account they tell you on the form. Most employees are eligible to choose what fund their super goes into.
There is no change to this step of your super obligations.
Step 2: Request stapled super fund details
If your employee doesn’t choose a super fund, you may need to log into our Online services and go to ‘Employee Super Accounts’ to request their stapled super fund details. Your agent or other tax professional can do this for you.
The ATO will provide your employee’s stapled super fund details after they have confirmed that you are their employer.
If the ATO provides a stapled super fund result for your employee, you must pay your employee’s super using the stapled super fund details they provide you.
Step 3: Pay super into a default fund
You can pay into a default fund or another fund that meets the choice of fund obligations if:
- your employee doesn’t choose a super fund, and
- we have advised you that they don’t have a stapled super fund.
Review your request stapled super fund access permissions here.
You can find out more about the new stapled super fund rules here.
