The calculator applies the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 as in force on 1 July 2026. It checks the employer contribution against the legal minimum; your award or agreement can require more.
Your employer must contribute at least the charge percentage, 12%, of your ordinary time earnings (s17A(2), s19). The rate reached 12% on 1 July 2025 and is not scheduled to rise further. Ordinary time earnings means earnings for your ordinary hours of work plus over-award payments, shift loading and commission (s6(1)): so most allowances, bonuses for ordinary-hours work, annual leave you take and paid personal leave all count. Overtime for hours outside your ordinary hours does not, and nor do lump sums for unused annual or long service leave paid when you leave.
Above a quarterly earnings ceiling the employer does not have to contribute. The ceiling is set by formula as the concessional contributions cap ÷ (4 × 12%), rounded down to $10 (s10A(5)). With the $30,000 cap that applied in 2025-26 it was $62,500 a quarter, so the most an employer had to pay was $7,500 a quarter. Verify The 2026-27 cap, and so the 2026-27 base, was not loaded from ato.gov.au on 8 November 2026; the calculator flags quarterly earnings above $62,500 for you to check.
Since 1 July 2026 each payment of qualifying earnings triggers its own super obligation on the payday (the "QE day", s17A), and the contribution must reach your fund within the usual period of 7 business days after it (s6(1)); contributions arriving later attract the superannuation guarantee charge with interest and an administrative uplift. Before 1 July 2026 the deadline was 28 days after the end of each quarter.
Check your fund's transactions, not just the payslip: the payslip shows what is owed, the fund shows what arrived. If contributions are missing or late, raise it with your employer in writing, then report unpaid super to the ATO using its online tool. The ATO can investigate and collect the shortfall, interest and penalties on your behalf.
$2,000 of ordinary time earnings a fortnight: 12% = $240 a fortnight, $6,240 a year. If the payslip shows $200, the shortfall is $40 a fortnight, about $1,040 a year. $2,000 a fortnight is about $13,000 a quarter, well under the $62,500 ceiling.
12% of ordinary time earnings. It rose from 11.5% to 12% on 1 July 2025 and stays at 12% for 2026-27; the schedule of increases is complete (SGAA 1992 s19, charge percentage 12).
Generally no. Overtime for hours outside your ordinary hours of work is not ordinary time earnings (s6(1)). But if your hours are not clearly set out, or the "overtime" is really part of your ordinary pattern, the ATO may treat it as ordinary hours. Shift loading, commission, over-award pay and most allowances do attract super.
Leave you take while employed is paid for ordinary hours, so super is paid on it. Lump sums for unused annual leave, long service leave or sick leave paid out when you leave are expressly left out of ordinary time earnings (s6(1)), so no super is payable on them.
From 1 July 2026, within 7 business days of each payday (payday super). Before that it was quarterly, by the 28th day after the end of the quarter. Late payment means the employer owes the superannuation guarantee charge to the ATO instead, including interest for you.
Compare your payslip with your fund's transaction history. Ask your employer in writing. If it is not fixed, report it to the ATO through its unpaid super tool (myGov or ato.gov.au); the ATO investigates and recovers it. There is no fee, and your employer must not treat you badly for raising it.
A quarterly earnings ceiling above which no super guarantee is required. It is the concessional contributions cap divided by four and by the 12% rate, rounded down to $10 (s10A(5)): $62,500 a quarter for 2025-26. The 2026-27 figure depends on whether the concessional cap was indexed on 1 July 2026; check the ATO's key rates page.
All checked 8 November 2026. Primary sources first. Not reloaded marks an official page our checker could not load on that date; the statement relies on the Act and earlier checks. Verify marks an indexed figure whose 2026-27 value we could not load.