When is super late? 7 business days from the day wages are paid
Since 1 July 2026, super is due payday by payday, not quarterly. It has to reach each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday. For a new employee's first contribution, it's 20 business days.
The “QE day”
The ATO calls the day wages are actually paid the “QE day”, and the clock starts there, not on the day the pay was due. So if wages haven't been paid yet, the super isn't late yet. The wages are owed, though.
What counts
Super guarantee is 12% of what the ATO calls qualifying earnings: ordinary pay, not usually overtime. Under 18s only get super in a week they work more than 30 hours.
If it's late
When super is paid late, the ATO applies the payment to the earliest unpaid payday first. A late payment still partly reduces the super guarantee charge, and the ATO now assesses that charge itself.
Two things that changed on 1 July 2026
- The ATO's free Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closed.
- Super moved from quarterly to every payday. If you pay through Xero, it can pay super automatically through what it calls Auto Super.
See what's late right now
Komiti's free payday catch-up shows, for every payday since the last one fully done, the wages and super for each person and which super is already past its 7-business-day deadline. It's a calculation using the ATO's rules, not AI. No account, and nothing you enter is stored. Paydays before 1 July 2026 are listed but not calculated, because the old quarterly rules applied.
Questions
- When does the 7 business days start?
- On the QE day, the day the wages are actually paid.
- Is it different for a new employee?
- Yes. Their first contribution has 20 business days.
- Who works out the super guarantee charge now?
- The ATO assesses it itself.
General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice.