POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
WA employees missing millions in unpaid super
Workers in Western Australia are missing out on $568 million in superannuation payments each year as a result of rule allowing employers to pay quarterly rather than with wages.
Analysis of Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data by Industry Super Australia (ISA) found 300,000 Western Australians were short-changed in 2018/19 by an average of $1,810 each.
Younger workers in blue-collar jobs, hospitality and retail were most likely to be affected.
Looking by suburb, the worst-affected was the suburb of Pearce where 29% of the electorate had been underpaid by an average of $1,932.
The reason for this was some employers were using a rule that allowed them to pay super quarterly rather than with wages.
The report said: “Without alignment of super and wages, workers lose track of payments and only discover they’ve been underpaid when it is too late. Because super can be paid quarterly some small business owners succumb to the temptation of using their employees’ super contributions for cashflow, which also leads to underpayments.
“Paying super with wages would level the playing field for all employers, stopping the unfair commercial advantage exploitative bosses get by not paying their workers’ full entitlements.”
It also called for super to be added to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee which would help in cases of businesses going bust when they owe unpaid super and wages to their staff.
Bernie Dean, ISA chief executive, said: “By not mandating employers pay super with wages, politicians are effectively standing in the way of millions of workers getting money they’ve earned and undermining their future economic security”.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Laura Dew is editor at Super Review. Prior to joining SR, she spent five years working at Investment Week in the UK covering asset and wealth management.
Recommended for you
The superannuation industry will be judged by its member services rather than how effectively it accumulates wealth, according to Stephen Jones.
The profit-to-member super funds are officially operating as a merged entity, set to serve over half a million members.
Super Review announced 21 winners at the annual Super Fund of the Year Awards, including the recipient of the prestigious Fund of the Year Award.
A research firm has given UniSuper a glowing review, praising its strong leadership and “compact team”, as well as its “creditable governance” structure.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI Second Close
61.07 3 y p.a(%)
2
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
59.21 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
32.57 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
32.09 3 y p.a(%)
5
DomaCom 4/27 Crombie Avenue Bundall QLD 4217 Australia
27.42 3 y p.a(%)
