Available for the following plans: Standard, Premium (Payroll)
Available for the following User Access levels: Admin
Australian employers are required to pay superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions for all eligible employees, including those under 18 years of age. However, currently, employees under 18 are only entitled to superannuation if they work more than 30 hours per week in a given week. This feature allows payroll administrators to manage and manually adjust these thresholds when system calculations require overriding due to fortnightly or monthly pay cycles. For more information on the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) rules for super for employees under 18, see the ATO guide.
For employees paid on a fortnightly or monthly basis, the system cannot always determine the exact hours worked in any single week; in these instances, a manual calculation may be required to calculate the portion of an employee's earnings that are subject to the superannuation guarantee.
To cater for this scenario, an override is available within the pay run to allow payroll administrators to manually override the Qualifying Earnings amount for under-18 employees when the system-calculated value does not accurately reflect the employee's actual entitlement for the pay period.
This article will show you how to manage the following:
- Identify who this feature applies to
- Determine how qualifying earnings are calculated
- Override qualifying earnings in a pay run
- Review Single Touch Payroll (STP) report outcomes
- Resolve common system questions
Identify who this applies to
Who this applies to
This feature applies when all of the following conditions are met:
- The employee is under 18 years of age at the time of the pay run.
- The business uses a fortnightly or monthly pay schedule (not weekly).
- The employee's super entitlement needs to reflect actual hours worked each week rather than the system-calculated amount.
Note: Employees aged 18 and over are not subject to the 30-hour threshold, so the Qualifying Earnings override does not apply to them.
Determine how qualifying earnings are calculated
For under-18 employees on fortnightly or monthly pay schedules, the system automatically calculates a Qualifying Earnings amount based on the employee's earnings lines in the pay run. This calculated value is used to determine the super guarantee contribution.
If the calculated amount is not accurate; for example, because the employee's actual weekly hours fluctuated across the pay period, an administrator can override the Qualifying Earnings value to reflect the correct amount.
Override qualifying earnings in a pay run
- Within the open pay run, locate the under-18 employee.
- Click the employee name to open their pay details.
- Review the earnings lines present and SG calculated.
If the system-calculated Qualifying Earnings amount does not accurately reflect the employee's actual entitlement for the period:
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Locate the Qualifying Earnings Override field in the employee pay details.
This field is only visible for employees under 18 on fortnightly or monthly pay schedules.
- Enter the correct Qualifying Earnings amount:
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Enter 0 if the employee did not work more than 30 hours in any single week during the pay period and is therefore not entitled to super for this period.
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Enter the actual qualifying earnings amount if the employee worked more than 30 hours in at least one week and super is owed on that portion.
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- Once the override is entered, the superannuation guarantee will be recalculated based on the override amount. The updated super contribution will be displayed in the employee pay details — review this to confirm it is correct before proceeding.
Once you are satisfied with the earnings lines and super contributions for all employees, finalise the pay run as normal.
Review Single Touch Payroll (STP) report outcomes
When a pay run containing an under-18 employee with a Qualifying Earnings override is finalised, both the override amount and the resulting super guarantee are reported through in the Single Touch Payroll (STP) submission:
- The Qualifying Earnings override amount is reported in the STP event, ensuring the correct qualifying earnings figure is recorded with the ATO.
- The super guarantee amount reported in the STP event is calculated using the override value, ensuring the correct super obligation is reported.
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This means both the qualifying earnings and the superannuation guarantee will be accurately reflected in the ATO records for the employee for that pay period.
Resolve common system questions
The system-calculated value will be used. If this is accurate for the employee situation, no override is needed however this should be reviewed and adjusted where required.
No. The Qualifying Earnings override is only available for non-weekly (fortnightly and monthly) pay schedules. Employees on weekly pay schedules have their super entitlement assessed on a week-by-week basis, so the override is not applicable.
The system determines eligibility based on the employee age at the time of the pay run. If the employee has turned 18 by the time the pay run is processed, the QE override field will not be available. Ensure the employee date of birth is accurately recorded.
This article applies to Australian businesses using Employment Hero Payroll.