Hospitality workers forced to chase millions in unpaid superannuation
Hospitality workers are being forced to chase millions in unpaid superannuation as the widespread “cash culture” of the industry leaves many workers without super.
The scale of the problem is hard to ascertain because so many employers still pay some, or all, of their wages in cash.
But Hostplus CEO David Elia said his fund was recovering more than $2 million a month in unpaid contributions from employers.
The fund recovered contributions from more than 3,000 employers in the last quarter of 2017.
"Small businesses in particular may have some cash flow issues that haven't enabled them to make contributions in that particular period," he told ABC News.
"I think we have to call it out. There are some employers out there who simply won't make, or don't make, contributions on behalf of their staff."
The Australian Tax Office is meant to identify and redress unpaid super issues but it often the employees who have to chase it up.
A recent Senate committee found that the super system is too weakly policed by tax authorities – labelled the process “inadequate” and “reactive” – and employers do not face harsh enough penalties for underpaying super.
The Senate committee made 32 recommendations to fix the problem of super guarantee non-compliance.