Introduced as part of the Your Future, Your Super federal government measures, super stapling has applied since 1 November 2021 where employers have been required to play a key part.
What is super stapling?
Super stapling means working Australians will be attached to one super fund for life unless they choose otherwise. The measure aims to reduce the number of super accounts people may acquire throughout their working life.
Super stapling makes it even more important for employees to actively choose a super fund best suited to their circumstances and needs.
How does super stapling impact employers?
As an employer, you’ll play a key role in super stapling in how you onboard new employees and pay super, unless a state or industrial award prescribes where super must be paid. These changes don’t affect your obligation to nominate a default super fund to pay your employee’s super into if they don’t choose a fund, or have a stapled fund.
A checklist for onboarding new starters
- Offer new starters an ATO Superannuation standard choice form as the first step in your onboarding process and encourage them to consider which fund may be right for them. If your employee makes a super choice, have them submit it to your HR/payroll team.
- If your new starter doesn’t choose a super fund when they start employment, you’ll need to check whether they have a ‘stapled’ fund with the ATO. To identify the super fund your new starter is ‘stapled’ to, refer to the ATO's Request stapled super fund webpage for details.
- If they have a stapled fund, pay their super into it. If they don’t, pay super into your business’s default fund or the fund named in the employee’s EBA.
- These changes don’t affect your obligation as an employer to nominate a default super fund to pay your employee’s super into if they have not chosen a fund, and don't have a stapled fund.
Stapling and your onboarding process
The infographic below provides you the detail when onboarding a new employee and where to pay their super in different circumstances.
Frequently asked questions^
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Will I still be able to pay super into my default super fund?
Employers only need to request a stapled fund for employees who commence on or after 1 November 2021 in circumstances where no choice of fund is received. If the ATO advises that there is no stapled super fund for an employee, you will be able to make contributions to your default super fund.
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How do I check for existing funds?
An online Request stapled fund form will be accessible through ATO Online Services for Business, ATO Online for Individuals and Online Services for Agents. Employers, or agents acting on their behalf will need to input information about employees into the form and will receive an online response as soon as the form is processed (within minutes). Employers who haven’t enabled online services with the ATO will be able to access this information over the phone.
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How long will it take to process a Stapled Super Fund Request?
Most results are delivered within minutes when using ATO Online Services.
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What if I’m onboarding hundreds of employees at a time? How will the ATO help?
The ATO currently offer a bulk upload solution to assist with large volume stapled super fund requests. This service is considered an interim service, that may be decommissioned by the ATO in future.
The ATO has also developed a solution that can integrate into payroll software. If you are using the ATO bulk request process, the ATO encourages you to discuss your options with your software provider.
For more information, visit ato.gov.au/stapledsuperfund
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What information will be sent to my employee?
If the ATO provides a stapled super fund response to you, your employee will be contacted and advised of the request and the fund details they provided you. How the ATO contacts employees depends on the contact details the ATO has on file.
Source: ato.gov.au/stapledsuperfund
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Can an employee refuse to have their employer use this service?
An employee cannot say that they don’t want this process to occur. Employees are also not able to nominate which of their existing super accounts is the stapled super fund.
^ This content is informed by the Australian Taxation Office as at 20 June 2024 and is subject to change. Visit the ATO website for more information.