EBA clauses
EBA minimum weekly super, handled automatically.
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The clause
What is EBA minimum weekly super?
It is a flat weekly amount that must reach the worker's fund — often CBUS — no matter how many hours were worked that week. You see it in CFMEU-pattern agreements and in Greenfields agreements written for a single project.
A dollar figure, not a rate
The agreement names an amount per week per worker. Two hours worked, forty hours worked — the floor is the same.It sits over the top of the SG rate
Percentage super still applies. The minimum only bites in short weeks, which is exactly when nobody is watching.
The failure
Why does generic payroll get it wrong?
Payroll engines calculate super as a percentage of earnings. A flat weekly minimum is not a percentage of anything, so there is nowhere to put it. Short weeks get underpaid unless someone manually tops up every affected worker, every pay run, forever.
One rain week on a 60-person site can mean 60 manual top-ups, each one a chance to miss a worker.
The fix
How Project Payroll handles it
Before each pay run finalises, our service checks every worker. If percentage super falls below the EBA minimum, the shortfall is added automatically as a super adjustment inside the pay run. One super amount on the payslip. Nothing manual.
Checking super against the EBA minimum…
Higher of the two, always
The engine compares percentage super with the weekly floor and pays whichever is greater.Redundancy funds too
The same automation covers redundancy fund contributions — Incolink, BERT and CIPQ — where the agreement sets a weekly figure.
Comparison
Which approach survives an audit?
Manual top-ups
- Accuracy risk
- High — depends on someone remembering every short week
- Admin time per pay run
- 20 to 90 minutes, more after wet weather
- Audit trail
- Ad hoc notes, no record of what was compared
0% super workarounds with spreadsheets
- Accuracy risk
- Very high — super is calculated outside the pay engine
- Admin time per pay run
- An hour or more, plus reconciliation
- Audit trail
- A spreadsheet nobody can reproduce twelve months later
Project Payroll
- Accuracy risk
- Low — the check runs on every worker, every run
- Admin time per pay run
- None. It happens before the run finalises
- Audit trail
- Clause, minimum, comparison and adjustment stored per pay run
| Approach | Accuracy risk | Admin time per pay run | Audit trail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual top-ups | High — depends on someone remembering every short week | 20 to 90 minutes, more after wet weather | Ad hoc notes, no record of what was compared |
| 0% super workarounds with spreadsheets | Very high — super is calculated outside the pay engine | An hour or more, plus reconciliation | A spreadsheet nobody can reproduce twelve months later |
| Project Payroll | Low — the check runs on every worker, every run | None. It happens before the run finalises | Clause, minimum, comparison and adjustment stored per pay run |
Exposure
What it means for wage theft exposure
Systematic underpayment of super under an EBA is underpayment. Since 1 January 2025, criminal provisions apply to intentional underpayment of wages and entitlements in Australia. "We meant to top it up" is a weak answer. A repeatable automated control beats memory, and it produces the record you need if anyone asks.
Minimum super questions
Does the payslip show one super amount?
Yes. The top-up is folded into the pay run, so the worker sees a single super figure for the period, not a percentage line and a correction line.
Does it work with CBUS?
Yes, and it is fund-agnostic. The minimum applies to whichever fund the agreement names, and the same logic runs for every worker in the pay run.
What if the EBA minimum increases mid-agreement?
The rate schedule is stored with effective dates, so the new minimum applies from the day it starts. Nobody has to remember the date.
Is this included in the EBA build?
Yes. It is part of the $2,500 EBA setup and is maintained ongoing at no extra cost.
Reviewed August 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Your agreement
Does your EBA have this clause?
We run it automatically. Send us your agreement and we'll tell you which clauses your current payroll can't handle.
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