A stapled super fund is an existing superannuation account that is linked—or "stapled"—to an employee, following them as they move between jobs. The stapled super fund service allows you to request the employee’s stapled super fund details directly from the ATO.
By using the 'Request Super Stapling' feature in the employee file, you can request the ATO identify the employee’s stapled super fund. If successful, the employee’s superannuation details will automatically populate the relevant fields within your Payroll platform.
The status of the employee’s Super Stapled details and results (when a request has been sent) can be checked in the Employee Super Stapling report. Learn how to run a Super Stapling report in this article.
Important
Before you can request an employee's stapled super, you need to enable the ATO integration for super stapling. You can learn how to do that in this article.
Requesting an employee's stapled super
Ensure that the following criteria are met before requesting a stapled super:
- No super details have been entered by the employee, and 21 days have elapsed since the employee's start date (Day 1 is the start date).
- A TFN (tax file number) Declaration has been submitted electronically to the ATO through a Single Touch Payroll (STP) event.
- The employee has been paid and included in a successful STP event.
If the above is not met, you will not be able to request stapled super details from the ATO.
- Log into your Payroll platform.
- Click the Employee menu.
- Click the List submenu.
- Click on the employee's name you want to request the stapled super for.
- Click Super Funds.
- Click Request stapled super fund. This will send a request to the ATO.
- If successful, the employee’s stapled super fund details will automatically populate in their file. The ‘Request Super Stapling' button’ will be available to select until the employee's superannuation details have been populated - then it will disappear.
Important
If the request is unsuccessful, an error message will appear. Review the error message and make necessary corrections to the employee’s file.
Important
Please note repeatedly requesting stapled details for the same person, has a chance of triggering automatic access removal with the ATO. If this occurs, you will need to contact the ATO to reinstate your access.
Further information
If there is a mismatch in details and the ATO cannot provide the employee's stapled fund, the error messages should guide you. However, to obtain a different result, you may also need to review the following fields in the employee's file:
- Employee Name
- Employing entity the employee is attached to (found in the employee’s file under Tax File Declaration).
When an employee does not choose their own super fund and is eligible to use the employer’s default fund, Employment Hero will automatically register the employee with that super fund if the organisation is using HeroClear.
This registration usually happens during or shortly after onboarding, before the employee’s first super contribution is processed. Employment Hero securely sends the employee’s details to the super fund so an account can be created, which helps ensure super contributions can be allocated correctly and on time—particularly under Payday Super requirements.
If the employee has a stapled super fund, contributions will be paid to that fund instead and the employer's default will not be used. If there is an issue with the registration (for example, missing or incorrect employee details, or an invalid super fund product), the employer will be notified so the details can be corrected before the contribution is processed.
As part of the onboarding process in Employment Hero Payroll, Super Stapling will be requested for a new employee, the request is sent to the ATO.
Once the ATO has processed the request, the employer will receive a letter directly from the ATO advising the outcome of the stapling request.
This letter will confirm whether:
- • A stapled super fund was found and should be used.
- • No stapled super fund was found, allowing the employee's chosen or default fund to be used.
- • The request could not be completed, along with any reason provided by the ATO.