Super
Payday Super for Retail (From 1 July 2026): Part-Timers, Commissions & Roster Pay
From 1 July 2026, retail employers must pay 12% super every payday and have it received by each fund within 7 business days. A plain-English guide for shops and stores — why commissions are now always caught, how roster swings hit super, and what to do before the SBSCH closes 30 June 2026.
If you run a shop or store, your payroll mixes part-timers, casuals, weekend penalty rates and — for a lot of retailers — commissions. From 1 July 2026, payday super adds one firm rule to all of it: the 12% super you owe must be received by each employee's fund within 7 business days of every payday, not pooled and paid quarterly.
This guide is for the store owner or the bookkeeper running a retail payroll. It zeroes in on the change retailers feel most — commissions are now always caught — and what variable roster pay does to your super timing.
General information only — not financial, tax, superannuation, or legal advice. Confirm every requirement with the ATO (ato.gov.au), the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au), or a registered tax or BAS agent before acting.
What changes on 1 July 2026
The reform changes timing, not the rate. Confirmed against the ATO:
- The rate stays 12% for FY2026-27 — unchanged, not rising.
- Super is calculated on Qualifying Earnings (QE) paid each payday — broadly OTE plus certain other payments. What counts as OTE has not changed, but the QE definition explicitly pulls in all commissions.
- The 7-business-day rule: super is on time only if received by the fund, with everything needed to allocate it, within 7 business days of the qualifying-earnings payday. Received-by, not sent-by. Business days, never calendar.
- No exemption for small retailers, part-timers or casuals.
The full background is in the complete employer guide to payday super.
Commissions: the retail change that bites
Here's the one retailers must not miss. Under the new qualifying-earnings rules, all commissions are qualifying earnings — including commissions earned solely for work outside ordinary hours. Salary-sacrificed amounts that would have been QE are also included.
So if you pay your floor staff or sales team a commission or sales bonus, 12% super is due on it, and from 1 July 2026 it's due on the payday the commission is paid — received by the fund within 7 business days. If your current process treats commissions as a separate, later, or super-free line, fix it before the cutover.
| Retail pay item | Part of qualifying earnings? | Super on payday? |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours (part-time, casual, full-time) | Yes — OTE | Yes |
| Casual loading on ordinary hours | Yes — OTE | Yes |
| Weekend / late-night penalty rates on ordinary hours | Yes — OTE | Yes |
| Public-holiday loading on ordinary hours | Yes — OTE | Yes |
| Sales commissions and commission-style bonuses | Yes — always QE | Yes |
| Salary-sacrificed amounts that would have been QE | Yes — included | Yes |
| Overtime (where ordinary hours are clearly identified) | No — not OTE | No |
For a full pay-item-by-pay-item breakdown across all the OTE and QE lines, see qualifying earnings vs OTE.
Roster swings now move your super weekly
Retail rosters flex with trade — quiet midweek, busy weekends, peak over sale periods and the festive season. Under quarterly super, those swings averaged out before you paid. Under payday super, the super leaves with each run, so a big-takings, big-roster fortnight is also a big-super fortnight, due within 7 business days.
The annual super is the same 12% — this is a timing shift, not a bigger bill. But for a shop watching weekly cash, it changes when money leaves. Model your own numbers with the free Payday Super cashflow calculator: it shows your super-per-payday, your annualised super, and the working capital that stops sitting in your account between batched runs. For the mechanics and the one-off catch-up when you switch, read what payday super does to your cashflow.
Part-timers, casuals and new starters
Retail leans on part-timers and casuals, and turns over seasonal staff. Two things to know:
- No exemption. Every part-timer and casual is in. Penalty rates and loadings on ordinary hours are OTE, so super is due on them — now each payday.
- First contributions get longer. A new employee or a new fund's first contribution has 20 business days (not 7) after the qualifying-earnings day. Use that window to confirm fund details so the second contribution lands inside the normal 7 days. Seasonal hiring makes clean fund details the difference between an on-time and a late contribution.
Before 1 July 2026 — the retail checklist
- Fix your commission handling so 12% super calculates on every commission and bonus, on the payday it's paid.
- Confirm your payroll software is payday-super-ready and reports YTD qualifying earnings + YTD super liability per employee via STP each payday.
- Map penalty rates, loadings and allowances to OTE-or-not so super is right every run.
- Check your clearing-house or fund turnaround beats 7 business days.
- Chase stale fund details for casuals and seasonal staff now.
- Migrate off the SBSCH before it closes 11:59pm AEST 30 June 2026 — see the SBSCH closing guide.
- Run a dummy pay before 1 July to confirm super is received within 7 business days end to end.
Work the full 12-point readiness check and grab the free Payday Super readiness checklist and pack — built for store operators and the bookkeepers who run their pay.
Estimate and general information only — not advice. Figures and dates are based on ATO, Treasury and legislation published as at 8 June 2026 and may be updated. Confirm with the ATO or a registered tax/BAS agent before acting. Super must be received by the employee's fund within 7 business days of payday from 1 July 2026; the SBSCH closes 11:59pm AEST 30 June 2026.