Employer Not Making Super Contributions...?

The company i work for is going through a rough patch, has been since last year. A guy a work for mentioned he is owed close to $5k in super and is annoyed as it could be accumulating interest. So i decided to check my super account online and im owed close to $3k in super. They havent made any contributions since last year...i've emailed my boss and the accounts lady to ask whats going on but TBH i dont expect a truthful answer, if they even acknowledge my email at all.

What are the laws re Super? How can they go on for 9-10 months without contributing to my (or anyones) Super...What would have happened if i didnt check my account, went on maternity leave, didnt return to work and moved on. Would they have gotten away with not paying my Super? Does it have to be paid by the time they do their BAS at the end of the financial year?

Edit: I work full time too.

Im pretty sure if you are a permanent employee they have to pay your Super - ring up the ATO or ASIC and get some advice from them.

Ohhhhh, that's very very naughty. They would be in big trouble if they were found out.

That is very naughty of them indeed, it should be reported and I would be keeping an eye out for any new jobs around, as I would be concerned about the companies stability if they aren't paying peoples Super.

It happened to me when I was working at a place, I was spewing when I found out, but I didn't chase it up, very silly of me :redface:

We get sent paperwork every 3 months to make sure we do it. One time, it was accidentally overlooked, but we paid it right on the due date. We got the most horrible letter, threatening legal action if we didn't pay up immediately, even though it was actually paid on time!

I would contact your super fund, and get the other guy to do the same, coz it can't just be a case of them not paying, it's picked up every 3 months.

ETA - Thinking about it, they would also get a PAYG Tax Withheld form every 3 months, which has to show how much they've paid in super contributions. So, either they've put $0, in which case the tax dept will be on to them, or they've been fudging the numbers, which the tax dept will also be very interested to hear about.

They're obliged by law to pay you 9% of your salary as super. If they can't afford to do this then they shouldn't be operating.

Don't let it go because if you don't apply the pressure now you'll never get your money back.

They're going to get fined. The super companies will likely have communicated with them asking what's going on on your behalf. When (if) they do eventually pay they will most likely be charged a fine for late payment. (Probably a fine for each late payment.)
I would be phoning them myself. There's no way to creatively answer the question - they haven't paid it and that's illegal. It's up to you as to whether you just let it go or whether you fight them on it - only you know your circumstances. But I would definitely be talking to them to let them know you are aware of what they're doing and that it's their bad.

I worked for a small business for 2 years and never got paid super, the person who was my employer was a friend of the family so I wasnt too worried about it, BUT one of the girls who I worked with cracked a big stink and got all the other girls to complain with her to the ATO and someone else?? The employer then lost her house, her business and is still now paying out a huge debt from the fines and court fees and the loan to pay us all our super, so its definately something that is highly illegal and will catch up with them!

I go on maternity leave in 7 weeks Beema so im just holding out until then.

I have emailed the boss & accounts so will see what they have to say. The receptionist says the forms have been coming in from our super companies. Doubt they have been going back out.

If no one responds to my email do i contact my super company so they can call my employer? I know how much is owing as it says on the bottom of our pay slips "an amount of $xxx has been contributed to you chosen super fund on your behalf" each week and my online statements show i havent been paid squat since Aug09 :doh:

Do they have to pay interest on amounts owing?

I dont think ive heard my super company phone in, unless they are communicating via letters?

The company i work for has a lot of assets which is where most of their money is tied up (im assuming) so until those assets can sell they are going through a rough patch. A lot of people are owed a lot of money. :wall:

Contact the government - there's heaps of information on the ATO website : Unpaid super

Good luck. My employer wrote on my paycheck each month that he was paying super but didn't, I didn't chase it up, they went into liquidation and I wasn't paid super for about 4 years full-time work. I miss that super :(

That government link is a good one. Employers are supposed to pay super every 3 months and I think they have 1 or 2 months before they get charged a fee from the ATO and have to pay interest on it as well. I would be getting onto it asap because it might take a while to sort out. Good luck :)

My employer did the same thing, but not for quite the period you are talking. My December quarter payment wasn' t made until March.

Super companies prefer super to be paid monthly, but companies can apply to pay quarterly, which the majority do. Whe I spoke with my super they wanted me to do the running about but cautioned me to seriously think before contacting the ATO (which is who you need to contact if your employers doesn't respond with a satisfactory answer) as it would lead to lots of problems for the company and I was just missing one quarter.

The worse part is not only are you not getting your contributions for investment/profit, but your fees (even if they are very low) are still coming out and if you have insurance through them those payments are still coming out also decreasing your balance being invested.

I thankfully got a satisfactory result by e-mailing the General Manager. I hope you do also.

Hansie

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My girlfriend worked for a Super debt collection agency in Melbourne for a while - would you like me to get their contact details? If they don't do QLD, I'm sure they'd know a company that do.

That link is great thanks Kazbah!

Im just going to leave it at my email at the moment, if i dont hear anything by early next week ill confront them face to face so they cant avoid my questions.

Thanks everyone for your advice!! Id be lost without BB!

This is the same as my DP the new boss took over about ?3 years ago and has never paid super. But he is too chicken to say something.

Ahurani - you should do something, it's your future after DP finishes work you're missing out on! Do you really want to be on benefits because you or your DP didn't get what you are paid for? It's stealing from YOU!

I have tried to drum it into his head! I said to him think of all the interest your losing because he is being a loser :(

When I'm questioning something, I generally play dumb so as to not get their back up ;) So, I might ring up and say, 'I've just been looking at DH's super/paycheques, and I can't see any contributions for this period - I know I'm probably looking in the wrong place, can you show me where they appear?' Then you can continue like that, just quietly asking for an explanation...

3 years is not good enough Ahurani, I seriously would be ringing up myself if it was DH that was having a problem :hug:

I know normally I'd just do it but I dont want to go behind his back and do it iykwim. :redface:

Yeah, I know what you mean :hug: Just yesterday I went behind DH's back to ring the Workers Comp insurance - they've owed us reimbursement of expenses to the tune of $700 for months, and they keep blowing him off. I got sick of it and just rang them myself, and sorted it all out. DH told me off for doing it, but I said to him, 'We need this money, and they keep blowing you off. I've asked you dozens of times to email them if you don't wanna ring, and you didn't want to deal with it yourself, so I had to'.

I have said that little spiel to him before as well, and most of the time he will sheepishly admit that he's glad I went around him. Its a hard balance to strike, not treating him like a child and doing everything for him, but when it comes to the finances he's either gotta step up or step outta the way, y'know?

DH and I run a small business, I recently fell behind in a 1/4's super payments and had to pay them via the ATO (if they are not paid on time this is what should happen as the fund should not accept late contributions) this also mean the ATO will calculate interest for the period they are late and a fee will be added. Anyway i paid the ATO and filled out the forms, but the ATO paid the super into another fund that employee had (and had not used for 10 years, he didn't even know he still had it). The employee contacted us saying we still hadn't paid the money and we contacted the ATO. They advised they just pay into the 1st account the shows on their system. Employee had to run around and transfer the super (worked out well for him he found an additional $6k of lost super!!).

Just thought I would let you know in case your employer claims is was paid via the ATO or they end up paying via the ATO down the track. They will have to pay interest and with the recent GFC it will work out in your favour lol.

Make sure you chase it up it's your $$$.

Good luck chasing it up.

DH wasn't paid one cent of super from his first two bosses and he was a full time employee with both. It was five years all up. He was advised to contact the ATO, so he did and they said they'd look into it. The result was that the first boss claimed bankrupcy and opened up a "new" business the next day, same employees, different business name. The second one also claimed bankrupcy and did the same thing, only got rid of the employees and continued to trade. The whole time DH worked for him, he promised he would catch up the super, going through a tough spot, blah blah blah. DH went down as a benefactor chasing money for the second boss. It's now been seven years..........and nope, not a cent from either.

He advised the ATO and the bankrupcy people on both occassions on what was going on. Yeah, there's been a really big point to that. So even though it's law to pay it, it's virtually impossible to get it if it hasn't been paid to you.

Hope you can get what's entitled to you and SOON!

Corelly x

It's illegal not to pay super contributions, and as someone has said, it's stealing from you, your future, and importantly, your kids! (That should work on hubby, if nothing else does!) I know it would work on mine!:rolleyes:

Thats excellent info Jaffaz, thanks so much! Im pretty sure i have transfered all monies from old super accounts and closed them but will keep an eye out!!

Havent heard anything yet but boss lady & accounts havent been in the office since last week (although i know they get their emails remotely). Will wait until they get into the office!

Watching with interest. It really is annoying when bosses try to knowingly do the wrong thing by their employees. Some of them just seem to want to earth from their employees without giving anything back. Hope you can work it out with them. xo

Boss lady came in and actually admitted they just havent been able to pay it; also said it will be fixed up within the next couple of weeks, i just said as long as im kept up to date and its fixed before im finished work at the end of next month. She actually said "you'll probably end up better off, if we had of paid it ontime you may have lost it or part of it" im assuming thats something to do with interest rates? No idea but i just gave her a blank look like are you serious...will be keeping a close eye on this!

Thanks everyone for you advice! x

Ammaki - what she meant is that the unit prices are lower compared to say 6 months ago and therefore any contribution made now will purchase a greater number of units.

Those of you who haven't been paid superannuation should really get on to it by contacting the ATO or even your union. You are effectively losing 9% of your pay....

Liz

Thanks for that Liz, that makes more sense! Still hasnt been cleared up. I have 5 weeks of work left before Maternity Leave. Im going to go to them again next week and demand (in the nicest possible way) that it be fixed up before i leave.