Stapling guide

If you have new employees start and they don’t choose a super fund, you may have an extra step to take to comply with choice of fund rules. You may need to request their ‘stapled super fund’ details from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

When a new employee starts, you can follow the simple steps shown in Figure 1.

All employers are required to follow the process shown in Figure 1 when determining the super fund that applies for their new employees. The new requirement is known as ‘stapling’.

Figure 1 – Stapling process when on-boarding new staff

Stapled super funds

A stapled super fund is an existing super account linked, or ‘stapled’, to an individual employee so it follows them as they change jobs. This aims to reduce account fees, avoiding new super accounts being opened every time an employee starts a new job.

If you don’t meet your choice of super fund obligations additional penalties may apply.

When to request stapled super fund details

Employers will need to request stapled super fund details for new employees who start on or after 1 November 2021, when:

• SG contributions are to be paid for that employee; and
• The employee has not chosen a super fund.