What is the employer subsidy?
The employer subsidy is the contribution made by your employer to your SSRSS scheme. Most SSRSS members will receive an employer subsidy in addition to their existing salary.
If you are eligible for an employer subsidy, your employer will match, dollar for dollar, your own regular contributions up to 3% of your gross base salary. If you are a school teacher or principal, refer to Extra information for teachers.
Your employer may choose to contribute more, and you will need to refer to your employment contract or your employer for clarification.
Once you have received your employer subsidy it becomes part of your retirement savings and remains in the scheme until you are entitled to withdraw it.
You cannot trade in the employer subsidy for cash or other benefits.
Who can receive an employer subsidy?
You will not be eligible to receive an employer subsidy if:
- your employer is contributing to a KiwiSaver scheme for your benefit, or
- you are a contributing member of the Government Superannuation Fund (GSF), or
- you already receive an employer subsidy for another superannuation scheme that (after tax) is equal to or higher than the SSRSS subsidy, and is not tradable for any part of your gross base salary, or
- you already receive a superannuation allowance from your employer that (after tax) is equal to or higher than the SSRSS subsidy. If you otherwise comply with the subsidised membership criteria, then you will be eligible to receive an employer contribution to your SSRSS scheme if you forgo a portion of that allowance equivalent to your SSRSS subsidy.
If you are receiving a retirement benefit from GSF, and are no longer a contributing GSF member, you can receive a subsidy (if otherwise eligible).