One of Australia's leading industry super funds has announced that it will provide free 'diagnostics' to help local businesses comply with superannuation laws.

Tasplan General Manager, Neil Cassidy said that the Fund was responding to concerns expressed by employers - small business in particular - that they may inadvertently be in breach of some super laws.

"The Federal Government has been gradually increasing the compliance burden on business over the past few years" Cassidy said. "Some employers have told us that they are not sure whether they are meeting all of the superannuation requirements."

According to Cassidy, one of the major areas of concerns is that some businesses appear to have viewed last year's introduction of choice of super as a one-off exercise without any ongoing requirements.

The situation is made more complex by the fact that the circumstances of many businesses was changing as they moved into and out of workplace agreements and as the impact of the Federal Government's industrial relations reforms began to take effect.

"The Federal Government wants to ultimately remove superannuation as an allowable matter in industrial awards" Cassidy said. "The implications of this could be that some businesses could inadvertently lapse into non-compliance over a period of time."

To help local businesses check that they are observing relevant laws and regulations, Tasplan is offering a free superannuation diagnostic.

According to Cassidy, this would involve one of Tasplan's Client Services Managers (CSMs) reviewing the systems and documentation used in a business and advising whether these were likely to meet the requirements of current superannuation laws.

"It's not rocket - science, but if you don't know a little bit about super, it would be very easy to fall foul of the law." Cassidy said.

For example, the choice legislation introduced last year requires affected employers to provide employees with a standard choice form on request. There are even prescribed time-lines for processing these forms and commencing super contributions to a new fund.

"The devil is in the detail" Cassidy said "and it's the sort of detail that superannuation professionals can easily bring to the attention of employers."

Cassidy believes the free diagnostic will be a hit with Australian businesses.

"Why would you take the risk that your business is not complying when there is a quick, easy and no-cost way of taking the guesswork out of it." Cassidy said.

Any business wanting a CSM to visit their workplace can contact Tasplan and ask for a free 'super diagnostic'.