Hi there. As an employee, you are ordinarily entitled to compulsory superannuation contributions from your employer if you are 18 years old or over and paid $450 or more (before tax) each month. The same rules apply regardless of whether you work full time, part time or as a casual. From 1 July 2014, these ‘super guarantee’ contributions must be at least 9.5% of your ordinary earnings.

Sometimes you can nominate a super fund to which you want your contributions paid, and other times you must use the super fund chosen by your employer (for example, if you work for the government or are paid super under a particular workplace agreement).

Your employer is required by law to make super contributions from the day you start employment. These payments must be made at least four times per year by the quarterly due dates set by the federal government. Your employer can choose to make payments more regularly (for example, fortnightly or monthly), so long as your total super guarantee contribution for the quarter is paid by the due date. The due dates follow the four quarters of the financial year and are 28 October, 28 January, 28 April and 28 July.

If you have not received your super contribution into your super fund for the relevant quarter by these cut off dates, then your employer is in breach of their legal obligations. You should contact your employer and super fund to find out why the payments have not been made. If this does not fix the problem, you can lodge an online enquiry about unpaid super with the Australian Taxation Office (www.ato.gov.au). You will be required to provide your contact details, your employer’s contact details and ABN, and information about your employment. The ATO will contact your employer to investigate the matter on your behalf. You will be kept updated of the progress and, if you are found to be entitled to unpaid super, these payments will eventually be made to your super fund.

There are other ways in which you can obtain unpaid super. If you are employed under the federal workplace relations system, you can seek an order from an eligible court under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Alternatively, the Fair Work Ombudsman (www.fairwork.gov.au) can help if you have not received all of your workplace conditions and entitlements, such as superannuation payments. These alternative options would require the assistance of a lawyer who can guide you through the process.