EmpowerHR 2026 release notes

We are pleased to present EmpowerHR 2026 – Release Notes

What's new

Payday super: what changes and what to do

From 1 July 2026, super must be paid on each payday instead of quarterly, calculated on Qualifying Earnings (QE) rather than OTE. EmpowerHR 2026 is ready for this change. Here's what's been updated and what you need to do.

What happens automatically when you upgrade

EmpowerHR updates the field labels on the Installation Constants form (Leave/Super tab):

Old label	New label
Ordinary time earnings pay element	Qualifying earnings pay element
Maximum earnings per quarter	Maximum contributions base
SGC pay codes pay element	Super guarantee contribution pay element
SGC %	SG %

The Qualifying Earnings and Super Guarantee Contribution pay elements now require at least one pay code and can't be left blank.
STP reporting switches to the new format automatically from 1 July 2026 – Qualifying Earnings (code "Q" replacing "O") and Super Liability are included in every pay event.
EmpowerHR copies your existing OTE pay element and quarterly Maximum Contributions Base values to Installation settings for backward-compatible reporting on earlier periods.

If you upgrade before 1 July 2026, your existing configuration stays active until that date.

What you need to do

Complete these steps after upgrading. The new values take effect from 1 July 2026 – your earlier pay runs aren't affected.

Go to Installation constants (Administration > Agency Management > Installation Constants – Leave/Super tab).

Update the Maximum Contributions Base to the annual figure. EmpowerHR carries across your old quarterly value – replace it with the annual amount for the relevant financial year.
Review the Qualifying Earnings pay element. If your QE pay codes match your OTE pay codes, no change needed. If additional pay codes now qualify, create a new pay element with those codes and enter it in the Qualifying earnings pay element field. Don't modify your existing OTE element – EmpowerHR preserves it for earlier period reporting. Add pay codes to any new element after your last pay in 2025-26 and before your first pay in 2026–27.
Review the pay elements attached to your super payment codes (Control Tables > Payment > Pay Element Codes). The QE element you report to the ATO isn't necessarily the one you pay super on. Update each if the pay codes need to change.
Fill in the Super Guarantee Contribution pay element if it's blank. This is now mandatory. If it's empty when you run STP after 1 July 2026, the process will stop with an error.
Check the SG % is correct (12% for 2026–27).

Maximum Contributions Base cap and exemptions

The Maximum Contributions Base cap now applies annually instead of quarterly. Once an employee hits the cap, SG and QE stop accumulating for that financial year.

When an employee is exempt from SG (under 18 with fewer than 30 hours, or capped at the Maximum Contributions Base), EmpowerHR records the QE exemption amount so your reporting stays accurate.

Flexible working requests, without the paperwork

Employees can now request flexible working arrangements directly through Self Service. One form covers all three request types:

Change work hours
Adjust start and finish times
Nominate work from home days

Employees can combine multiple types in a single submission. The form only shows the options relevant to each employee, based on their role configuration in Desktop.

Once submitted, the request moves through your approval workflow automatically. Approvers can approve, redirect, return, or reject at each stage, and notifications go out as it moves along. Employees can check where their request is up to from the Self Service dashboard. When payroll processes the final approval in Desktop, the position movement happens automatically and the employee receives a confirmation notification.

See the Flexible Working Arrangements guides for configuration steps and user guides.

Epic: EMP-10037 | Requested by: CECG

Get new starters sorted in Self Service

Located at: Employee Self Service (ESS) > Requests

New employees can now complete their bank, tax, and super details through Self Service before their start date. Once they submit, each request flows to payroll via the Alerter for review. When payroll accepts, the details update the employee's record automatically.

Through ESS, new employees can enter payment instructions, super fund information (fund name, USI, member number, and join date), and tax details (TFN, employment basis, residency, HELP/STSL, and Medicare). ESS locks down tax details once the employee submits them. New employees can also add payment instructions from scratch during onboarding.

You'll need to configure workflow tasks for payment instructions, super, and tax requests. Grant ESS access via ESS Security - Template, and optionally assign an alternate ESS template for new starters.

Existing employees can also change super fund and payment details through ESS via the normal employee template.

Note: Employees can access ESS once their status code is set to 'e%' and they have an IDMS account (SSO) or self-service password.

Ticket: EMP-9892, EMP-9893 | Requested by: TasTAFE

Gender-neutral pronouns in ESS messaging

ESS messaging now uses gender-neutral pronouns. Where screens previously referred to managers as "he or she", the wording has been updated to "they". This applies to the workflow addressee screen that displays when employees submit leave requests, along with other ESS messaging reviewed as part of this change.

This update brings ESS language in line with inclusive workplace standards and removes binary gendered references from user-facing text.

iHelp: 538784 | Ticket: EMP-10336 | Requested by: DPAC

Position cost centres now split cleanly

When Employee Self Service looks up a position's split cost centres, it now matches the from date of the position movement exactly. Historic splits that were never end dated are no longer picked up, so the splits no longer total more than 100%.

Ticket: EMP-9564 | Requested internally

What's fixed
When you create a preventative action in self-service, both the scheduled from/to and actual from/to dates now populate correctly in the desktop application.
iHelp: 269189 | Ticket: EMP-7053 | Reported by: MCB

Leave request date changes no longer trigger errors before selecting leave type
iHelp: 516135 | Ticket: EMP-9127 | Reported by: Penrith City Council

Load type selection now works smoothly after clearing temporary data
Ticket: EMP-9700 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Workflow wording now uses gender-neutral language and can be customised through the properties file
Ticket: EMP-9796 | Requested internally by Fusion5

Compliance field severity options now display the correct values of 'y' or 'ywn' in both desktop and self-service
Ticket: EMP-10265 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Initial accreditation date field now respects blank values for NESA registrations
Ticket: EMP-10266 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Date validation now enforced for compliance registration fields
Ticket: EMP-10268 | Requested internally by Fusion5

NESA registration date validation now prevents proficient teacher date before initial accreditation
Ticket: EMP-10271 | Reported internally by Fusion5

NESA conditional registration dates now sync correctly
Ticket: EMP-10272 | Requested internally by Fusion5

WWCC registration dates now display with four-digit year format
Ticket: EMP-10274 | Requested internally by Fusion5

Removed obsolete password policy settings from system startup
Ticket: EMP-10345 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Onboarding API now sends password setup links to new employees via email
Ticket: EMP-10386 | Requested internally by Fusion5

Time and Claims reports screen now loads faster for managers
iHelp: 571004 | Ticket: EMP-10388 | Reported by: CECG

Tax recalculation on leave adjustments now processes correctly when entered retrospectively, ensuring STSL calculations remain accurate and the system doesn't apply tax effects on the actual gross for previous pay periods
iHelp: 572851 | Ticket: EMP-10401 | Reported by: DOC

New employees can now save and submit payment instructions and superannuation fund details during onboarding
Ticket: EMP-10403 | Reported by: TasTAFE

Tax scale now remains visible after assigning a payroll code during employee onboarding
Ticket: EMP-10404 | Reported by: TasTAFE

Superannuation now calculates correctly when employees have multiple cost codes with balance deduction codes
iHelp: 574743 | Ticket: EMP-10416 | Reported by: Drakes

Tax calculations now process correctly when backpay adjustments create negative gross amounts for previous periods
Ticket: EMP-10422 | Reported by: CEDoW

Set password email links now work correctly for new employees granted self-service access in desktop
Ticket: EMP-10495 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Superfund and tax declaration requests now display under pending requests after submission in self-service
Ticket: EMP-10496 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Payroll details now save successfully for new employees after accepting tax declaration requests from self-service
Ticket: EMP-10500 | Reported internally by Fusion5

Leave booking details now open correctly when accessed from the current bookings table in self-service
Ticket: EMP-10513 | Reported by: TasTAFE

Student loan deductions now adjust correctly when reversing prior period overpayments that result in negative taxable gross amounts
Ticket: EMP-10518

Form attachments now save correctly as employee-based when creating employee forms in MSS
Ticket: EMP-10526 | Reported by: DFES

STP file now submits successfully through SuperChoice when super payments have been reversed
iHelp: 467522 | Ticket: EMP-8182 | Reported by: DPaC

HDA salary level now defaults to the lowest level when using the hdas calculation option
Ticket: EMP-1050

External pay data uploads no longer appear in both adhoc and main pay runs when cancelling a upload
iHelp: 403996 | Ticket: EMP-8234 | Reported by: CEDB

Employees with apostrophes in their names can now log into self service on mobile devices
iHelp: 501394 | Ticket: EMP-8941 | Reported by: Drake

Higher duties costing code now defaults from the position number when changed
iHelp: 571265 | Ticket: EMP-10220

Leave alerter now displays department names longer than 40 characters without errors
iHelp: 567124 | Ticket: EMP-9980 | Reported by: COGG

TQI registration history now shows the correct status changed date instead of the current access time
iHelp: 500445 | Ticket: EMP-10278 | Reported by: CECG

Skill validation history now sorts chronologically on first load in manager self service
iHelp: DSS 374279, 569393 | Ticket: EMP-10673 | Reported by: DPAC

Two-factor authentication menu option no longer appears when using SAML sign-on
iHelp: 572221 | Ticket: EMP-10208 | Reported by: DSS

Workflow now sends emails when the reports-to structure contains a circular reporting chain (e.g Position A reports to Position B, and Position B reports to Position A)
iHelp: 531865 | Ticket: EMP-9473 | Reported by: DSS

Payslips now generate correctly when the self-service installation folder path contains a space
Ticket: EMP-9350 | Reported by: CECG

The STP checking report no longer shows duplicate OTE and super earnings lines
iHelp: 534489 | Ticket: EMP-9795 | Reported by: JWH

The STP Checking Report now reports Qualified Earnings for pay periods on or after 1 July 2026, with the amount shown in a column headed Qualified Earnings instead of OTE Amount.
iHelp: 624684 | Ticket: EMP-11367 | Reported by: The Fourth Force (Drakes)

Employee Self Service now works correctly at sites where the application name appears twice in the web address, once in the host name and once in the path.
iHelp: 545769 | Ticket: EMP-9716 | Reported by: Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC), Department of Social Services (DSS)

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EmpowerHR 2025.3 release notes