Auto Enrolment
As part of your employer duties, every employer in the UK must put certain workers into a workplace pension and pay in to it. From the day your first worker started working for you, you now have legal duties.
A guide to
auto enrolment
01
select contribution basis
As an employer you have a choice which contribution to select. There are different employer minimum contributions, different total contributions and different contribution basis to consider.
Contributions by qualifying earnings
The worker must make up the difference between the total and employer amount.
3%
8%
Total contributions
Employer Minimum Contributions
Qualifying earnings are a band of earnings more than £6,240 and less than £50,270 (2021/22 tax year).
Qualifying earnings include salary, wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, statutory maternity pay, ordinary or additional statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay or parental bereavement pay.
Contributions by Certification
This is an alternative to using qualifying earnings whereby all contributions are calculated from the first pound of earnings. You can choose any of the below options.
01
Set
Equal to at least basic pay, total contributions are 9% with an employer minimum contribution of 4%.
02
Set
Equal to at least 85% of all earnings, total contributions are 8% with an employer minimum contribution of 3%.
03
Set
Equal to all earnings, total contributions are 7% with an employer minimum contribution of 3%.
choose your pay reference period
A pay reference period is a period of time over which earnings are to be measured. The pay reference period earnings are used to assess your workforce.
02
Your pay reference period can be from as little as one week to over a two-month period
03
decide on your postponement period
what is postponement?
The option to defer assessment of your workforce up to a period of 3 months.
It gives some employers the opportunity to smooth administration and align with business processes. Some employers may have workers who have one-off spikes in earnings, such as seasonal workers, other employers may wish to avoid calculating contributions on part month earnings.
why would i do this?
do i need to let workers know they are being postponed?
Yes. You will need to issue a postponement letter within 6 weeks. Onepension can issue regulatory letters on your behalf ensuring you do not breach legislation.
cyclical re-enrolment
Every three years you must re-enrol certain workers into your qualifying pension scheme, such as those that have previously opted out, or voluntarily left the pension scheme. You will also need to re-declare compliance with The Pension Regulator - this is your employer duty.
04
how do i do this?
Similar to Auto Enrolment, you will need to select a date to re-enrol, and then re-assess your employees.
can you help me do this?
Yes. Onepension can arrange this for you, communicate to your workers and provide reporting to The Regulator. We will contact you in advance of your re-enrolment window and guide you with suitable dates to help you choose.
Frequently asked questions
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