MAY 1, 2018 –
*this post is sponsored by one of our partners, CBUS Superannuation
Cbus is advocating for legislation to align the paying of super with wages in its submission to the Federal Government’s consultation over its draft superannuation reform laws.
Cbus’ submission to the government made headlines in The Australian newspaper earlier this year, in an article which points out that the ATO estimates that businesses fail to pay Australian employees $3 billion a year in super, affecting almost three million workers.
Cbus Executive Robbie Campo said that paying super with wages would help expose the non-payment and under payment of super.
“It is Cbus’s experience that some employers choose to only pay superannuation for sections of their workforce and not for all employees in order to avoid their full obligations while not triggering ‘arrears’ detection and remediation activities at the fund level.”
Cbus welcomed the Federal Government’s moves to increase compliance with the payment of superannuation entitlements, but the fund is calling for a more comprehensive response to genuinely address the issue.
Cbus CEO David Atkin said the failure to comply with superannuation payment obligations deprives working people of their hard-earned retirement savings, creating an unlevel playing field for employers doing the right thing and ultimately costing the tax-payer in foregone revenue and welfare payments.
“We agree with the Minister, Kelly O’Dwyer that it’s unacceptable for people not to be paid their entitlements and welcome the opportunity to put forward our views about addressing the problem.
“But we believe the Government needs to take further steps to ensure people do not miss out on their legal entitlements and one immediate and effective step that should be implemented is the alignment of the payment of super with wages.
“The draft laws provide some welcome, but only minor, reforms given the magnitude of the problem.”
Mr Atkin cited the comprehensive 32 recommendations made in the Senate Economics Committee report Superbad – Wage theft and non-compliance of the Superannuation Guarantee, handed down in May 2017 and suggested the Government should be progressing them all.
“Our fund represents members working in the building and construction industry that has some of the highest incidence of non-payment of super. This has a major impact on their retirement incomes. It remains an area of serious concern for the industry and it requires a serious response” he said.
For more information on insolvencies in the construction industry and the Federal Government’s response to Senate Economic Committee’s report on the issues see:
The Superbad report can be viewed at: