Super guarantee cost for employers in 2026-27: 12% and Payday Super

The direct answer: 12%, capped, and due on each payday

The super guarantee is the minimum super an employer must pay for each employee on top of wages. For 2026-27 the rate is 12%. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) lists the rate history as 10.5% in 2022-23, 11% in 2023-24, 11.5% in 2024-25, and 12% from 2025-26 onwards, so the figure you budget for next year is the same figure you paid this year.

The cost is not calculated on every dollar paid. Since 1 July 2026 the base is called qualifying earnings. The ATO's maximum contribution base page sets the annual cap for 2026-27 at $270,830. Once an employee has received that much qualifying earnings in the financial year, the employer does not owe super guarantee on any further qualifying earnings for that year.

The timing changed too. Under Payday Super, which the ATO describes on its page 'About Payday Super', employers must pay super for each payday instead of quarterly, and the amount must be received by the employee's fund within seven business days after payday. The law behind this is the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Act 2025, which amends the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992. Check the exact text on the Federal Register of Legislation before relying on section numbers.

How the figure is worked out, step by step

Start with each employee's pay run. Add up the qualifying earnings in that run. For most employees this is the base salary or wages for ordinary hours, plus paid leave that the ATO treats as qualifying earnings, commissions, and most allowances. The ATO's page 'What payments are qualifying earnings' gives the full list of inclusions and exclusions, and it is the reference your payroll system should follow.

Multiply that amount by 12%. The result is the super owed for that payday. Do not round the rate or the cap until the end of the calculation, and keep the cents, because the fund and the ATO both report to the cent.

Track the year-to-date total. Once the running total for the financial year reaches $270,830, stop calculating super guarantee on further qualifying earnings for that employee. Pay runs in the last part of the year may therefore cost nothing extra for senior staff whose pay has already passed the cap.

Confirm the payment date. The money must reach the fund within seven business days after the payday. The ATO notes that weekends and public holidays do not count as business days, and that the first contribution for a new employee, or the first payment into a new fund, has a longer window of 20 business days.

Report the figures. Qualifying earnings and the super liability are reported to the ATO through Single Touch Payroll each payday. Your payroll software normally does this, but someone in your business should still check that the reported figures match the pay run.

A worked example with real numbers

Take an employee on a base salary of $90,000 a year, paid fortnightly, with no overtime or allowances that change the base. There are 26 fortnightly pay runs in a year, so each gross pay is $3,461.54.

The super guarantee on that pay is $3,461.54 multiplied by 12%, which is $415.38 per fortnight. Across the full year the employer's super cost is $10,800, which is $90,000 multiplied by 12%. This is the amount that sits on top of the $90,000 wage in the employer's cost base.

Now take a higher earner. An employee on $300,000 in qualifying earnings for 2026-27 does not generate 12% on the full salary. The cap applies first. The employer pays 12% of $270,830, which is $32,499.60. The 12% on the full $300,000 would have been $36,000, so the cap saves the employer $3,500.40 in that year. The ATO's own maximum contribution base example uses a bonus paid on top of base pay to show how the cap is reached part way through a bonus.

The cases that change the answer

Resignation and termination. Payments made on termination are treated differently depending on what they are. The ATO's table says unused annual leave, annual leave loading and long service leave paid on termination are not qualifying earnings, whatever the reason for leaving. Payment in lieu of notice is qualifying earnings for all termination reasons. Unused personal or carers leave paid on termination is not qualifying earnings either. Check the leave ledger before the final pay run, because the split between these items decides whether super is owed on them.

Contract type. Permanent, fixed-term and casual employees all fall under the same 12% rate. Casual staff are the group most likely to be underpaid, because the casual loading is a common source of error. Contractors are treated as employees for super guarantee in some cases, where the payment is mainly for their personal labour. Whether a specific contractor is caught is a legal question, and it is one to settle with a lawyer or the ATO before the first payment.

Minimum service and income. There is no minimum income or hours threshold any more. Super guarantee applies from the first dollar an employee earns, for full-time, part-time and casual staff alike. The first contribution for a new employee has the longer 20 business day window described above.

Caps. The $270,830 maximum contribution base is the main cap. It is annual under Payday Super. Under the old quarterly system the cap was set per quarter, so an employee's annual cost could differ from what the quarters suggested. Under the annual cap that difference disappears.

Exclusions. The ATO lists payments that are excluded from qualifying earnings. Expense reimbursements, such as genuine mileage or phone costs, are excluded. Paid parental leave is excluded. Overtime is where sources disagree. Some commentators say most overtime is excluded from qualifying earnings, while the ATO's list of ordinary time earnings includes overtime. Do not assume either way. Ask payroll to confirm how each overtime type is coded against the ATO's current list, and keep a note of the answer.

What automation cannot settle. A payroll system can apply a list of rules to each pay run. It cannot decide whether a payment is a bonus for ordinary hours, an allowance that is really a wage, or a contractor who is in fact an employee. Those calls need a person who knows the contract and the award or agreement that applies.

Common mistakes

• Calculating 12% on gross pay that includes overtime or expense reimbursements, without checking the ATO's list of exclusions.
• Continuing to pay super guarantee after an employee has passed $270,830 in the year, or stopping too early because the cap was estimated rather than tracked.
• Treating the old quarterly due date as the deadline. The 28 day quarterly rule no longer applies from 1 July 2026.
• Sending money on the payday but missing the fund's receipt date. The test is when the fund receives the contribution, not when it leaves the bank.
• Assuming a clearing house still works as before. The ATO's Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed on 1 July 2026, according to Mercer Super's employer guide, so payroll needs a different SuperStream route.
• Forgetting that a late payment has a cost. The ATO assesses a super guarantee charge, and interest compounds daily at the general interest charge rate, plus an administrative uplift.

What to check with HR or a lawyer

Confirm with your HR or payroll team which pay items are coded as qualifying earnings, starting with overtime, allowances, bonuses and commissions. Confirm the cap tracking for each employee who earns above $270,830 in a year. Confirm the bank and clearing route, so that each payday's contribution reaches the fund within seven business days. Confirm the final pay for leavers, especially unused leave and payment in lieu of notice.

Where you plan to cut hours, roles or pay to manage the super cost, do not make that change on the basis of this page alone. The notice, consultation and severance rules set out in the Fair Work Act 2009 and any applicable award or agreement apply, and the change should be agreed with the employee or checked with a lawyer first.

This explains the rule in general terms; it is not legal or tax advice for your case.

How employers take the routine payroll work off their staff

Most of the super cost is simple arithmetic. The hard part is the monthly and payday routine: pulling qualifying earnings from each pay run, tracking the annual cap, matching each contribution to a fund, and filing the figures. AiStaffo builds AI workers that connect to a business's payroll export and HR records, apply the qualifying earnings rules on each pay run, flag the items that need a person's decision, and keep a log of contributions and fund receipt dates. A payroll or finance person still approves each run, decides the coding of unusual items, and signs off the final figures. Book a free automation audit to see which of your pay runs would benefit.