Payday Super passes; Employment Hero, OZEDI and Zepto team up to ensure SMBs can hit the new seven-day-deadline

Sydney, Australia – 4 November 2025 – With the Payday Superannuation Bill passing through Parliament, businesses are now less than eight months away from the landmark change in how superannuation is paid, and three Australian technology leaders are mobilising at pace.

To prepare for the shift, employment management platform Employment Hero has partnered with account-to-account payments provider Zepto, and superannuation messaging provider OZEDI, to build a first-of-its-kind solution to protect businesses from the risk of admin and penalties, ahead of the reform.

The partnership marks a major milestone in Employment Hero’s new embedded super clearing tool, HeroClear, set to launch in Q1 2026 ahead of the reform. The tool removes the manual steps and delays that currently sit between payroll and super funds, and gives employers a clear proof-of-payment trail within the seven-day window.

HeroClear will use OZEDI’s SuperStream connection to verify fund details before payment, and Zepto’s real-time payments capability – leveraging Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP) fast payments infrastructure – to move contributions instantly. These functions will sit inside Employment Hero’s payroll system, so employers do not have to use separate clearing houses or banking portals. Currently, existing bank transfers can take up to three business days, creating silent delays and error loops that put employers at risk under the seven-day rule.

Without this automation and live status, many employers won’t know they’ve fallen foul of the rules until it’s too late, exposing them to significant penalties, including the 60% ‘administrative uplift’, while funds face no equivalent statutory obligation to meet the same timing standard.

Employment Hero CEO Ben Thompson said the partnership will reduce the risks small businesses face while parts of the ecosystem are still in transition:

“The final Bill expects SMBs to get Payday Super right from the outset, even while parts of the system that employers rely on are still being upgraded. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of SMBs will need to move off the ATO’s Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH), set to close 1 July 2026. That’s a big ask, especially when you consider the 60% increase in admin overheads and $124,000 cashflow impact the average SMB will face on day one,” Thompson said. 

“That’s why we’re building the solutions to make compliance practical even before the 1 July deadline. We’re proud to partner with like-minded innovators, Zepto and OZEDI, in our move to embed super clearing directly into Employment Hero Payroll. By validating fund details up-front, moving money in real-time, and providing live confirmations and a single audit trail, SMBs will see fewer errors, faster settlement and clear proof of action to meet new requirements. That means better outcomes for business and employees alike,” Thompson concluded. 

“Employment Hero is showing what’s possible under the new Payday Super framework, taking a proactive, technology-first approach that gives Australian businesses confidence to meet these new expectations,” said Chris Jewell, President and Co-Founder at Zepto.

“At Zepto, we’re passionate about enabling dynamic, data-rich payment flows that move beyond the limitations of traditional banking systems. After processing Australia’s first real-time super payment with OZEDI in 2023, we’re proud to extend that innovation through this partnership with Employment Hero. By embedding Zepto’s real-time payment solutions within HeroClear, Employment Hero is leading the way for Australian businesses — unlocking automation, transparency and instant settlement that make compliance faster, simpler and more reliable.”

David Field, Director at OZEDI, said: “OZEDI has been in the business of handling large volumes of superannuation contribution data since 2013. The industry-wide process has remained largely unchanged for more than a decade but technology, such as the NPP and our new data and payee verification services creates a whole new experience for employers. The integration of OZEDI’s services with Employment Hero’s advanced technology and vision plus Zepto’s NPP payment services has created a benchmark for the industry.”

Instead of separate systems, clearing houses, payment portals and manual uploads that accumulate costs and admin, HeroClear will be the only end-to-end, automated workflow inside payroll, tracking each step from payment to settlement, any errors of refunds and validation all within the one platform. 

The partnership supports the core policy goal of Payday Super – improving retirement outcomes for Australians- while helping ensure businesses can meet the new requirements from day one.  

Australian businesses can get on the front foot with updates and information at www.employmenthero.com/payday-super.