When employing new and seasonal workers, you need to consider how auto-enrolment affects them and your business.

Who do I need to enrol?

You will need to do a formal assessment of any new staff so you know whether they should be enrolled into the Scheme.  You should not enrol any workers into the Scheme before you have assessed them.

Staff aged between 22 to State Pension Age and earn over £192 a week, or £833 a month, must be put into the pension scheme. 

Consider Using Postponement

You can choose to delay working out who to put into the Scheme for up to three months. This is called postponement.

If you have staff who will not be working for you for longer than three months, such as short-term seasonal workers, you may decide to postpone.  You can also use postponement for new staff on probationary period.  At the end of the postponement period, you must assess and auto-enrol any staff who are still working for you if they meet the age and earnings thresholds.

The Pensions Regulator has a handy guide to postponement.  Click here.

How do I add new workers to the Scheme?

Guidance on how to add new workers to the Scheme is available in our Support Section.

Please remember to allow time for new records to be checked and approved.  This must be completed at least 2 days before your contribution upload file is due for upload.

How do I manage staff who don’t want to be in the Scheme?

If staff wish to leave within one month of joining the scheme, they may opt-out.  They may request an Opt-Out Notice from the Scheme by telephone or email within one month and return it to you.  You should refund any contributions already deducted at the next pay run.  Click here for a guide on how to manage opt-outs.

Staff who want to leave the pension scheme after the opt-out period has expired will not be able to opt-out. Instead, they may confirm in writing to you that they wish to cease active membership or ‘leave the Scheme’.  An employee who has left the Scheme after the opt-out period has expired will not receive a refund of contributions. 

Remember, it is against the law for employers to encourage or offer inducements to employees to opt-out of pension saving.