Is super paid on annual leave? What about other types of leave, like sick leave and personal leave?
It depends on whether it's part of the amount your employees earn during their normal work hours – which is called ordinary time earnings (OTE).
If yes, you must pay 12% of OTE into your employee’s fund as part of the super guarantee (SG)1.
Some businesses pay their employees more super as part of an employee benefit or enterprise agreement, so it’s worth checking what agreements you have in place.
When to pay super on leave
See whether you need to pay super on leave in the table below.
When you look at this table, note that OTE is the amount you pay employees for their ordinary hours of work, including commissions and shift loadings.
If there is a tick against ‘OTE’ for a specific payment below, you’ll need to pay 12% super against it. If there is a cross, you generally don’t have to pay super on that amount3.
| Payment type | Salary and wages | ordinary time earnings (OTE) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual leave | ||
| Leave loading: clearly linked to lost overtime4 | ||
| Leave loading: all other | ||
| Sick leave (includes carers or personal leave) | ||
| Long service leave | ||
| Termination payments – unused annual leave, long service leave or sick leave | ||
| Parental leave | ||
| Jury duty | ||
| Defence Forces services leave | ||
| Family and domestic violence leave |
Super on government funded parental leave pay
Under the new superannuation on Parental Leave Pay legislation, eligible parents with babies born or adopted on or after July 1, 2025 will receive a superannuation contribution to their nominated super fund. This contribution will be based on the superannuation guarantee, which is 12% of their Parental Leave Pay.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will make lump sum payments, including interest, to your employee’s superannuation fund starting in July 2026. These payments will occur after the end of each financial year in which the Parental Leave Pay was received. As an employer, you do not need to take any action regarding these payments, and you can still make other super contributions.
Parents will continue to apply for Parental Leave Pay through Services Australia, who will assess eligibility for both the payment and the superannuation contribution.
What if I missed a super payment?
Not paying super on time may result in penalties and interest charges from the ATO, such as the Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC). You use salary and wages to work out the SGC. Salary and wages are similar to OTE but also include any overtime payments2.
Find out more about what happens if you don’t pay super or visit the ATO.
More for employers
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Important information to consider
- Australian Taxation Office, Super guarantee, ATO website, accessed 18 July 2024.
- Australian Taxation Office, List of payments that are ordinary time earnings, ATO website, accessed 18 July 2024.
- An exception to this rule is if you make a delayed payment, on salary.
- Leave loading is an extra payment on top of your employees’ annual leave pay, usually 17.5%. For more information, see the Australian Taxation Office, Superannuation on annual leave loading, ATO website, accessed 11 October 2024.
- QuickSuper is a registered trademark and a product owned and operated by Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141. Westpac’s terms and conditions applicable to the QuickSuper service are available after your eligibility for the clearing house service is assessed by AustralianSuper. A Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) is available from Westpac upon request. AustralianSuper doesn’t accept liability for any loss or damage caused by use of the QuickSuper service and doesn’t receive any commissions from Westpac if employers use this service. You can choose to make your contributions using a different service, but it needs to meet the government’s minimum data standards, visit ato.gov.au