Payday super for labour hire companies

Payday super means a labour hire company must send super after each payday, not wait for the old quarterly deadline. The fund generally needs to receive the contribution within 7 business days, so payroll and super processing need to work together.

What changed on 1 July 2026

Payday super started on 1 July 2026, as at September 2026. It changed the timing of compulsory super guarantee, commonly called SG.

The SG rate is 12% of eligible ordinary time earnings, as at September 2026. The general rule is that an employee's fund must receive the contribution within 7 business days of payday, as at September 2026.

That last word matters: receive. Sending a contribution file on day seven may be too late if the clearing house, gateway or fund needs more time to process it.

You can read the broader rules in our payday super guide. For a pay-run estimate, use the payday super calculator.

Why labour hire payroll is harder

A labour hire company can have hundreds of workers paid weekly across several sites. Each site may approve time differently. One worker might have ordinary hours, overtime, travel, fares, casual loading and a site allowance in the same pay.

The host builder approving the timesheet does not take over your SG duty. If your labour hire business employs and pays the worker, your business is generally responsible for calculating and paying their super.

The short deadline leaves less room for common hold-ups, including:

• late timesheets from supervisors
• disputed start and finish times
• missing super fund details
• rejected member numbers or personal details
• incorrect earning-code mappings
• out-of-cycle adjustments
• clearing house or fund rejections
• workers moving between several projects in one week

Under quarterly SG, a payroll mistake could sometimes be fixed before the quarterly due date. Under payday super, each payday creates a much shorter payment cycle.

Quarterly SG compared with payday super

Payroll point	Previous quarterly approach	Payday super from 1 July 2026
Contribution frequency	Usually once a quarter	After each payday
General deadline	28 days after each quarter ends	Fund generally receives payment within 7 business days of payday
Weekly payroll	Up to 13 weekly pays could feed one quarterly payment	Each weekly payday creates a super obligation
Rejected contribution	Could be found during quarterly reconciliation	Needs quick investigation and resubmission
Cash planning	Larger quarterly amounts	Smaller but much more frequent amounts
Payroll corrections	Often corrected before the quarter closed	May affect the current or a later payday, depending on the correction

The final quarterly period ended on 30 June 2026. Its ordinary quarterly payment deadline was 28 July 2026. Wages paid under the new regime need to follow the payday super timing rules.

Work out which payments attract super

Do not simply apply 12% to gross pay. SG is based on eligible ordinary time earnings, subject to the legislation's rules and limits.

For construction labour hire, ordinary hours and casual loading will commonly form part of the SG calculation. Some allowances can also count when they relate to the worker's ordinary duties. Overtime payments are generally treated differently, but the name on the earning code is not enough. You need to look at what the payment is actually for.

For example, an earning code called “site allowance” might represent payment for ordinary working conditions. Another allowance might reimburse a worker for a specific expense. Those payments may have different SG treatment.

Check each earning code against:

1. the worker's employment terms
2. the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement
3. the ordinary hours definition
4. ATO guidance on ordinary time earnings
5. any contractual super rate above the statutory minimum

An award or enterprise agreement may require more than the statutory SG minimum. Payday super does not reduce that entitlement.

Watch employee and contractor classifications

Calling someone a subcontractor does not settle the SG question. Some individual contractors can be treated as employees for SG when they are paid mainly for their labour.

Look at the actual arrangement. Is the worker paid for their personal labour and skills? Can they delegate the work? Are they operating an independent business? Who bears the commercial risk?

This is especially important when a labour hire business pays workers under an ABN arrangement. An ABN by itself does not remove a possible super obligation.

Workers under 18 also need attention. The 30-hours-per-week SG work test for employees under 18 still applies, as at September 2026. Your payroll needs weekly hours, not just year-to-date totals, to apply that rule correctly.

Build the deadline backwards

Treat the 7-business-day rule as a receipt deadline, not a submission target. If your provider normally needs two business days, aim to approve and release the super earlier.

A practical weekly process looks like this:

1. Close timesheets on time

Set a firm cut-off for host supervisors. Escalate missing approvals before payroll starts. Do not leave payroll staff chasing five sites on payday morning.

2. Validate worker details

Check tax file declarations, fund choice details, stapled fund results where required, member numbers and dates of birth. Bad data can cause a contribution to bounce.

3. Review earning-code mappings

Mark each code as SG eligible, not eligible or requiring review. Recheck mappings when an award, agreement or client arrangement changes.

4. Calculate super with each pay

Calculate SG at the same time as wages. Keep the employee-level calculation linked to the pay run, site and earning lines.

5. Submit early and track receipt

Do not stop at “file sent”. Track accepted, rejected and returned contributions. Keep evidence showing when the fund received the money.

6. Reconcile every pay run

Reconcile payroll SG, the payment amount, clearing house records and fund responses. Investigate differences immediately rather than waiting for month-end.

Handle corrections carefully

Construction payroll often changes after payday. A supervisor might approve missed ordinary hours on Tuesday, after Friday's wages have already been paid.

Keep a record of what changed, which original pay was affected and when the adjustment was paid. If the adjustment includes eligible earnings, it can create an additional SG amount. The timing depends on how and when the corrected earnings are paid under the payday super rules.

Do not silently overwrite the old pay record. You need an audit trail that links the adjustment to the worker, payday and contribution.

What happens if super is late

Late or unpaid super can trigger the super guarantee charge. Under the payday super regime, the consequences can include the unpaid shortfall, an interest component and an administrative uplift. The final cost depends on the circumstances, including how quickly the employer corrects the problem and whether it is disclosed before ATO compliance action.

Directors may also face personal liability through the director penalty regime. Repeated late payments can therefore become more than a payroll administration problem.

If a fund rejects a payment, fix the worker data and resubmit it promptly. Keep notes, timestamps and provider messages. A rejected file should sit in an active exception queue, not in someone's inbox.

The key point for labour hire companies

Weekly wages now mean weekly super work. Your payroll calendar, cash position, timesheet approvals and contribution provider all need to meet the same timetable.

Start with clean earning codes and reliable worker data. Submit before the legal deadline. Then confirm receipt and resolve rejections quickly. That is the safest way to manage payday super across busy construction sites.