Over 40 per cent of people have no idea whether the July 1 increase in the superannuation guarantee rate is coming out of their take home pay, with almost two thirds of employees saying they’ve received no communications from their employer about the changes according to researcher CoreData.
A similar amount – 43 per cent – of the 838 employed Australians surveyed said the SG increase from 9.5 to 10 per cent will not affect their take-home pay and their employer will cover the increase.
Thirteen per cent said the increase will definitely result in a lower take home pay, as their employer adjusted the balance between the SG contribution and wages to maintain the cost of employment.
What’s clear according to CoreData CEO Andrew Inwood is that many people will be surprised to see their take home pay affected as they simply aren’t aware of the changes.
“It will be a surprise for many,” Inwood says. “Around four in 10 employees say they do not know about the July 1 SG changes at all, or say they know there are changes but do not know what those changes are. This issue is greatest among those aged under 40 where the greatest proportion of employees, around 30 per cent, say they do not know about the changes at all.”
A clear driver for this lack of awareness, CoreData says, is the failure of employers and superannuation funds to effectively communicate the changes and the their implications.
“Less than 10 per cent of employees say they first found out about the changes from their employer and almost two-thirds say they have received no communication about the changes from their employer at all,” the researcher states. “Only 6.9 per cent of employees say their superannuation fund first told them that the SG rate was due to rise.”
The study also notes that most employees support the other changes embedded in the superannuation system as part of the Your Future, Your Super reforms. Only 11.1 per cent of employees said they don’t support any of the changes, which include fund stapling, a performance test and an online tool to compare fund performance.
