Do you often hire seasonal or holiday employees to ease the workload? Before hiring them this holiday season, make sure you are well aware of the recent changes to super guarantee, especially when recruiting temporary or occasional or short-term staff. The changes introduced now make a higher number of employees eligible for super.

As per the modifications or changes that came into effect on July 1, 2022, the monthly threshold of $450 for Super Guarantee eligibility has been lifted. This allows you to must pay super for employees at a rate of 10.5% regardless of their income.

For instance, if you have a holiday worker working at a temporary position who puts in 20 hours a week and earns approximately $430 before taxes, the eligible worker is eligible for super because:

• He/she is over 18 years old
• He/she has been paid an amount for her ordinary hours of work
• the $450 threshold no longer applies

The Australian Taxation Office advises the employers to evaluate eligibility for the employees who may not have previously been qualified for Super Guarantee. There are also other Super Guarantee eligibility restrictions that need to be kept in mind when hiring workers below 18 years of age.

To qualify the eligibility criteria, an employee must still put in more than 30 hours each week of work.

In case, there’s a 16 year old employer employed with your firm at a temporary basis and puts in 15 hours of work each week, and earns only $195, he/she by no means qualify for a super.

Being an employer, always stay updated with any changes made to Super Guarantee and make sure:

• Your payroll and accounting systems have been updated
• You are calculating the employees’ SG payments correctly
• You pay the right amount of SG to all eligible employees
• You pay the amount to the right fund by the due date

So, these were a few super guarantee basics you need to keep in mind when hiring temporary employees this holiday season. For more information or professional assistance for calculating the right Super, feel free to contact our tax accountants at KPG Taxation.