Available for the following Payroll plan: Standard, Premium
Available for the following user access levels: Admin
Some Australian employees are covered by industrial instruments — such as enterprise agreements — that specify a fixed minimum super contribution per period. Where this applies, the system-calculated Super Guarantee amount may fall below that fixed minimum, requiring the employer to top up the difference.
The Higher of Super feature allows users to set a weekly super minimum directly on an employee's Pay Run Defaults screen. When the pay run is processed, the system will automatically calculate the legislated super contribution and compare it against the configured minimum, paying whichever is higher. Any shortfall is processed as a super guarantee adjustment line, ensuring it is reported correctly via Single Touch Payroll.
Getting started
- Log into your payroll platform.
- Navigate to the employee's file and open the Pay Run Defaults screen.
- Tick the Apply higher-of super minimum checkbox.
- Enter the Weekly minimum ($) amount. Validation prevents saving a negative amount, but $0 is a valid amount.
- Click the Save button.
Note
- If the employee has a pay rate template assigned, the checkbox and amount field are disabled and can only be changed via the template.
- An employee under the age of 18 can also have this setting configured for them.
You can configure the higher-of super minimum on a pay rate template to apply consistent settings to multiple employees at once.
- Navigate to your Pay Rate Templates settings.
- Click on the template you wish to edit.
- Tick the Apply higher-of super minimum checkbox.
- Enter a Weekly minimum ($) amount.
- Click the Save button.
- Click Update Employees when asked whether you want to update employees linked to the pay rate template so that each employee's super minimum is updated to match the template. If you click Close instead, existing employees linked to the template will not have the higher of super amount saved to their pay run default.
Note
Any higher of super amounts configured via a pay rate template can be preserved when installing an Award update by selecting Yes to the Preserve custom pay rates option.
You can also configure a higher of super amount for employees in bulk via the employee import. The import/export file contains two columns: HigherOfSuperEnabled and HigherOfSuperWeeklyAmount.
- To activate the setting, set HigherOfSuperEnabled to True and enter the minimum weekly amount in the HigherOfSuperWeeklyAmount cell.
- To deactivate the setting for an employee, set HigherOfSuperEnabled to False.
Pay run
During a pay run, the system scales the weekly minimum to match the employee's pay schedule frequency (e.g., fortnightly or monthly), then automatically compares their legislated super against this minimum:
- If the legislated super is higher: The employee's super contribution is the legislated super amount.
- If the minimum is higher: The legislated super is processed as the SG contribution, and the shortfall is processed as a super adjustment > super guarantee (SG) line. The Notes field on that line reads "top-up amount to meet contracted SG minimum".
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Adjustment pay runs: If a subsequent adjustment pay run is created for the exact same pay period (same start and end date), the system calculates the legislated minimum of the adjustment pay run earnings and compares it to what has already been processed in the prior pay run. Where:
- The cumulative legislated super is now higher than the minimum, a reversal of the portion of prior top-up will be created as a super adjustment > super guarantee (SG) line. The Notes field reads "reversal of top-up amount recorded as SG in prior pay run".
- The minimum is still higher than the cumulative legislated super, no SG will be processed in the adjustment pay run.
Note
The higher-of super top-up or reversal line appears as its own distinct line item and cannot be edited or deleted. It is not merged or consolidated into the standard legislated SG line. If a manual override is required, manually add another super adjustment > super guarantee line.
Reporting
Use this report to audit higher of super configurations made to an employee within the Pay Run Defaults section.
You can select a new Higher of super display column to view the higher-of super enabled flag and weekly amount for each employee.