dm 2750193 v3f these slides remain the property of the pensions regulator and their content should...

DM 2750193 v3F These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction.

Sesame Bankhall GroupAdvice to business owners workshop

Jeremy Leslie-SmithIndustry liaison manager

November 2014

Automatic enrolment

Employer duties and a regulatory update

The information we provide is for guidance only and should not be taken as a definitive interpretation of the law.


Topics

• Why is automatic enrolment being introduced?

• What employers need to do

• Staging dates and overall timetable

• Who are your workers?

• Worker categories and the duties and rights for pension scheme enrolment

• Communicating with workers

• Qualifying earnings and the automatic enrolment processes

• Postponement

• Opt-ins and Opt-outs

• Monitoring worker status and re-enrolment

• Keeping records

• Declaration of compliance (registration)


• As a society we are living longer, healthier lives.

• There are currently four people of working age for every pensioner by 2050 there will be just two.

• Millions of people are under-saving for their retirement.

• Only 1 in 3 private sector workers were in a pension scheme in 2012 and the trend has been downwards for the last 40 years.

• The reforms being introduced now will help millions of individuals to save more (or save for the first time) for their retirement.

Why is automatic enrolment being introduced?

DM2847614 v2F These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction.

Proportion of all employees in a workplace pension

In 1997, 55% of employees were members of a workplace pension scheme, falling to 47% in 2012, prior to the introduction of automatic enrolment.

In April 2013, 85% of public sector and 36% of private sector employees were in a workplace pension.

Implementation of automatic enrolment commenced in 2012.

DM2777032 v7C These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction.

What’s happened so far …

• As at the end of September 2014

• 33,660 employers have completed their Declaration of Compliance (Registration),

• covering over 19m workers, of which:

• around 4.7m people were automatically enrolled; and

• 9.1m were already in a qualifying scheme;

• 426k workers had the Transitional Period applied;

• and 4.9m were ‘none of the above’.


Staging profile (volumes of employers)

Planning ahead is key. Very large volumes staging from January 2016

Q1 2015/16 peak includes small and micro employers


Automatic enrolment legislation gives employers a duty to:

automatically enrol all eligible jobholders communicate to workers providing timely and appropriate information allow non-eligible jobholders to Opt-in and entitled workers to join manage Opt-outs within the Opt-out period and promptly refund

contributions automatically re-enrol all eligible jobholders every three years complete declaration of compliance (registration) with the Regulator keep records, and maintain payments of contributions.

The employee safeguards state that employers:

must not induce workers to Opt-out or cease membership of a scheme must not indicate to a potential jobholder that their decision to Opt-out will

affect the outcome of the recruitment process

Overview of legal duties and safeguards


What employers will need to do

• Know when you need to be ready

• Provide a point of contact

• Develop your initial plans

• Find out who to enrol

• Choose your software and check records

• Choose a pension scheme

• Automatically enrol your staff

• Tell your staff

• Complete your declaration of compliance (registration)

• Maintain records

• Fulfil ongoing responsibilities


Planning timeline - www.tpr.gov.uk/planner


Staging

• The employer duties apply to each employer from their staging date:

– the duties apply to all of the employer’s workers from that date.

• The staging date is based on the number of people in the employer’s PAYE scheme(s) as of 1 April 2012:

– any subsequent changes in PAYE size or usage have no effect on the staging date.

• Generally, larger employers will stage before smaller ones:

– new employers* will go last, from May 2017.

Oct 2012 May 2017April 2014 June 2015

Large employers

Medium employers

Small/micro employers

New* employers

Feb 2018

*Employers that did not exist (or were not using a PAYE)

as of 1 April 2012.

Do not assume you

know the number of

people- use our tool


Who are your workers?


Are they a personal services worker?

• The employer needs to judge whether or not an individual (who is not a director)with a contract to perform work or services personally is undertaking the work as part of their own business.

• Does the employer:

– have control over an individual’s method of work (eg hours worked)?

– provide any employee benefits?

– bear all the significant financial risks in carrying out the work (eg the worker is not financially responsible for their faulty work)?

– provide what is required for the individual to carry out the work (eg tools)?

If most or all of the above are true, then it would be reasonable to consider that they are not undertaking the work as part of their own business – and they are a personal services worker.

• The list above is not exhaustive and an employer must take into account all relevant considerations and make a reasonable judgement.


Who is excluded?

Exclusions from automatic enrolment duties include:

• some office-holders who are not considered workers, (eg non-executive director, trustee or elected member), but are only excluded for the activities they carry out as an office holder

• serving members of the military are not workers, and

• a company with only one employee, if that employee is also a director of that company (but only for the work they carry out for that company).


Who is the worker’s employer?

• For a worker who works under a contract of employment (an employee) or who is a personal services worker directly contracted to perform work for the company who pays them:

the employer will be the legal entity named in the contract.

• Otherwise:

– for a worker who is supplied by an agent to a third party, to perform work personally, under a contract or arrangement between the agent and the third party, then:

• the agent or third party will be the agency worker’s employer, depending on which is responsible for paying the worker

• or, if it cannot be determined who is responsible for paying the worker, then whichever actually pays the worker will be considered as their employer.


Qualifying earningsAge range

16-21 22-SPA* SPA*-74

Under £5,668† pa

Between £5,668 pa and up to £9,440† pa

Non-Non-Eligible JobholderNon-Eligible Jobholder

Eligible Jobholder

More than £9,440† pa Non-EligibleJobholder

* SPA = State Pension Age

** Figures for 2014/15

Under £5,772** pa

Between £5,772 pa and up to £10,000** pa

More than £10,000** pa Eligiblejobholder

Employer must automatically enrol

eligible jobholders into an automatic enrolment

pension scheme

Worker categories

NonNon-eligible jobholder-Eligible Jobholder

Non-eligiblejobholder

Non-eligiblejobholder

Non-eligible jobholders can

Opt-in to an automatic

enrolment pension scheme

Entitled workerCan request to join a pension

scheme

DM1995429 v17L This presentation remains the property of The Pensions Regulator. The content of these slides should not be altered in any way

Thresholds v Pay Reference Periods (PRP) 2014-15

† For other PRP durations, multiply the number of weeks in the PRP by the weekly amount (eg £192.00) or number of months by the monthly amount (eg £833.00) etc - or pro-rata if not an exact multiple of any of the above.

N.B. The Secretary of State will review these figures each tax year.

Pay Reference Period †

Lower Earnings Threshold

(LET)

Earnings trigger for automatic enrolment

Upper Earnings Limit

Annual £5,772 pa £10,000 pa £41,865.00 pa

Bi-annual £2,886.00 £4,998.00 £20,933.00

1 quarter £1,443.00 £2,499.00 £10,467.00

1 month £481.00 £833.00 £3,489.00

4 weeks £444.00 £768.00 £3,221.00

Fortnight £222.00 £384.00 £1,611.00

1 week £111.00 £192.00 £805.00


Assessing your workers

• Employers will need to assess all their workers on their staging date – unless they choose to use ‘postponement’ (described in later slides).

• All qualifying earnings must be used to assess a worker’s category (ie eligible jobholder, non-eligible jobholder or entitled worker).

• Qualifying earnings is any component of pay that could be considered one of these pay elements (an employer should use their reasonable judgement): – salary/wages, commission, bonuses, overtime and some statutory

payments (excluding expenses and dividends).

• Eligible jobholders must be automatically enrolled into a suitable scheme – but any active member of a ‘qualifying’ pension scheme with that

employer will not need to be automatically enrolled.

• After the staging date, employers will have to:– assess all new workers who join them– assess some workers every pay period (see planning tool ‘ongoing responsibilities’)

– assess some workers again every three years.


Check suitability of payroll and IT systems

• What software will you use to carry out:

– assessment

– enrolment

– communications, and

– calculation of pension contributions

• This is likely to require data held by payroll and HR systems.

• Choices:

– payroll software, and/or

– non-payroll software or service (can be referred to as “middleware”) this may be offered by the pension scheme provider.


Pensionable earnings

• Pensionable earnings can be based on qualifying earnings OR another definition (eg basic pay).

• When qualifying earnings are used to determine pensionable pay:– pension contributions are determined by the rules of the scheme, and– will be based on banded earnings between the lower earnings threshold

and upper earnings limit (currently £5,772*pa and £41,865*pa).

• If pensionable earnings are not based on qualifying earnings, the employer can self certify** if the scheme meets certain minimum criteria:– ‘Set 1’ - if basic pay from £1 is pensionable, or– ‘Set 2’ - if at least 85% of total pay (scheme average) is pensionable, or– ‘Set 3’ - if 100% of total pay is pensionable.

* Pro-rata of annual amount used in each Pay Reference Period. These figures are for 2014-2015. The Secretary of State will review this amount each tax year.

** For further details see the DWP guidance document: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307083/money-purchase-schemes-guidance.pdf


What pension schemes can be used?

must be registered in the UK or EEA* must have no barrier to automatic enrolment

must be a qualifying scheme

Automatic enrolment scheme

Qualifying scheme

must be tax registered: and meet minimum criteria

Workers already active members of a qualifying scheme do

not need to be automatically enrolled

Must be used for automatic

enrolment and ‘Opt-ins’

Employers will need to contribute

to the pension scheme

*European Economic Area states

Employers may also use a qualifying scheme

or an automatic enrolment scheme for

entitled workersScheme for

entitled workers scheme

is registeredEmployers are not required to make an

employer contribution


Min DC 8% total*

Min DC 5% total*

Minimum DC 2% total contribution*

DC scheme minimum contributions

Oct 2018Oct 2017

*% of qualifying earnings

Feb 2018

Min DC 2% employer*

Min DC 3% employer*

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Oct 2012 May 2017April 2014 June 2015

Large employers

Medium employers

Small/micro employers

New

employers


Using an existing pension scheme

• If you have an existing scheme, what can you use it for?

• Is it a qualifying scheme and does it satisfy the minimum criteria?

– If it is not a qualifying scheme, it may be possible to change the scheme rules, so that active members would not need autoenrolment.

– If it is a contract-based scheme:• the employer and pension provider need to have a signed agreement

(where the employer commits to pay the legal minimum employer contributions), and

• it is likely to need a jobholder agreement for each active member (an agreement by the member to pay the difference between the employer contributions and the legal minimum total contribution).

• Do you also want to use this scheme to automatically enrol your workers?– Your existing scheme provider may not allow it be made an automatic

enrolment scheme (eg the scheme provider would need to provide Opt-out forms on request).


Postponement

• Postponement suspends the duty of automatic enrolment and the need to assess and can be used:

– at the employer’s staging date for any or all existing workers

– on the first day of employment for any new joiner after the staging date, and

– on the date a worker meets the criteria to be an eligible jobholder.

• Only one postponement per worker can be made at a given time.

• Each worker can be postponed from one day up to maximum of three months.

• The employer must notify any postponed worker within six weeks and a day of the start of postponement.

• The worker has the right to Opt-in or join during postponement.

• Employer must assess on the last day of postponement and:

– automatically enrol eligible jobholders, and

– for those workers not eligible, monitor them each future pay period.

Postponement does not change or delay

the staging date


Opting-in and joining


‘Opting-out’

• Workers automatically enrolled (or who have opted in) may ‘Opt-out’.

• Employer must inform staff of their right to Opt-out and how to Opt-out.

• The employer must not give out or send out ‘Opt-out’ forms:

– requests to ‘Opt-out’ must be handled by the scheme provider, and

– completed forms would normally be sent to the employer.

• A one calendar month Opt-out window starts on the later of two dates: once the worker is an active member of the pension scheme, or when the employer issues a notice of enrolment letter/email to the worker.

• The worker will get a full refund of all contributions.

• Early Opt-outs (before the Opt-out window starts) – are not allowed.

• After the Opt-out window has closed, the worker may still request to cease membership of the pension scheme (under the scheme rules).


Communicating to workers

• At staging, employers will need to communicate* to all their workers, (including existing pension scheme members).

• Employers need to inform workers of their rights and whether they are being automatically enrolled or postponed.

• The deadlines for communication are:

– two months after staging; for existing scheme members, or

– within six weeks for all other communications.

• Communications must be sent directly to the individual (eg by letter, email, HR web portal).

• We have provided example ‘template’ letters, which may be customised.

* See our planning tool and ‘communicate to staff’


Re-enrolment


Record-keeping

• Employers must keep records* about their workers and the pension scheme used to comply with the employer duties (pension providers and trustees will also have duties to keep records).

• An employer can use electronic or paper filing systems to keep or store any records, as long as these records can be produced in a legible way.

• Most records must be kept for six years. Those that relate to opting out must be kept for four years.

• The records must be provided to The Pensions Regulator, on request.

• We can conduct an inspection, if we have reasonable grounds to do so (for example, this may be as a result of a whistleblower alert).

* See planning tool and ‘keep records’


Declaration of compliance (registration)

• Employers must complete a declaration of compliance (registration)

• The deadlines are:– five months after the staging date and– two months after every re-enrolment date.

• Employers may receive a penalty fine if they do not complete their declaration on time.

• Employers will need to provide certain details, for example: – which pension schemes were used to comply with the duties, and– the number of eligible jobholders automatically enrolled into each scheme.

• All postponements applied at the staging date must have come to an end before the declaration can be completed.

• You can start the online process early and partially complete your declaration.


Any questions?


Useful links• Staging date tool:

www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/tools/staging-date.aspx

• Planning tool:www.tpr.gov.uk/planner

• The essential guide to automatic enrolment:www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/e-brochure/index.html

• Our detailed guides for employers and pension professionals:www.tpr.gov.uk/pensions-reform/detailed-guidance.aspx

• Information about declaration of compliance (registration):www.tpr.gov.uk/declaration

• Letter templates for employers:www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/letter-templates-for-employers.aspx

• 6 month leafletwww.tpr.gov.uk/docs/automatic-enrolment-six-month-leaflet.pdf


Useful links continued…

More information about pensions and automatic enrolment:

• The Association of British Insurers:www.abi.org.uk/pensionproviders

• The National Association of Pension Funds:www.napf.co.uk

• National Employment Savings Trust:www.nestpensions.org.uk

• Independent Financial Advisers:www.unbiased.co.uk

www.vouchedfor.co.uk

• The Pensions Regulator: www.tpr.gov.uk/docs/selecting-a-good-automatic-enrolment-scheme.pdf

www.tpr.gov.uk/docs/introduction-code-13.pdf


Useful links continued…Webinars:

• Automatic enrolment – dispelling the myths

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-dispelling-the-myths.aspx• Identifying your workforce and calculating minimum contribution levels

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-identifying-workforce-calculating-minimum-contribution.aspx

• Implementing automatic enrolment systems and pension schemes

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-implementing-automatic-enrolment-systems-schemes.aspx

• Automatic enrolment – are you ready?

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-are-you-ready.aspx• Automatic enrolment registration.

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-registration.aspx• Automatic enrolment question time.

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-question-time.aspx


Resources

• There is a ‘We’re all in’ poster available to download on our website (you can add your company name and logo) at

• www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/raising-awareness-about-automatic-enrolment.aspx


We are here to help!

Contact us at:www.tpr.gov.uk/contact-us.aspx

Subscribe to our news by email:https://forms.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/subscribe.aspx

Connect with us on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2675456

Follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/TPRgovuk

Thank you

The information we provide is for guidance only and should not be taken as a definitive interpretation of the law.


Additional slides


DC self certification during phasing period

Up to 1st Oct 2017

1st Oct 2017 to 30th Sept

2018

From 1st Oct 2018

Pensionable Salary(Basis of

% Contributions)

Set 1

(Tier 1)

2% Employer/ 3% Total



Scheme Definition

(if >= basic pay from £1)

Set 2

(Tier 2)




85% of Total Pay (scheme average)

Set 3

(Tier 3)




100% of Total Pay


Summary of deadlines (for deadlines ending from 1 April 2014)

Action/Communication Deadline

Letter to existing qualifying pension scheme members at staging

2 months after staging

Letter to workers who are not already in a qualifying pension scheme at staging

6 weeks after staging

Joining window, enrolment notifications and transitional period notices

6 weeks from the assessment date (eg before midnight of Monday 12 May, if assessed Tuesday 1 April).

Opt-out window 1 month - from the latest of when:• the enrolment notification is issued, and• active membership is achieved.

Postponement notices 6 weeks from the day after the assessment date (eg before midnight Tuesday 13 May, if assessed on Tuesday 1 April).

Complete declaration of compliance (registration) after staging

5 months after staging

Complete declaration of compliance after re-enrolment 2 months after re-enrolment

Normal contribution payments to scheme provider 22nd day of the month following the month of deduction (19th day for non-electronic payments).

New member contribution payments to scheme provider (for all deductions made in first 3 months of membership)

22nd day (for electronic payments) of the first month, following a three month period starting the day active membership is effective (19th day for non-electronic payments) eg enrolments 2 January to 1 February = e-payment deadline is 22 May.


What to communicate to workers

• On staging, workers already members of a qualifying pension scheme must be provided with information* about the scheme.

• Non-eligible jobholders and entitled workers must be provided with information* telling them about their right to Opt-in or join a pension scheme.

• For eligible jobholders being automatically enrolled (and non-eligible jobholders being enrolled after opting in) they must be provided* with: information about their enrolment, what it means for them, including the contributions, and their right to Opt-out.

• Workers subject to a postponement need to be given key information* such as the length of the postponement period and their rights to Opt-in or join.

* See Useful links for template letters


Is Eddie a worker?

Eddie is a self employed graphic designer. He works regularly for a company, Acme Workshops Ltd.

His role is unique. He designs (and, if necessary, prints on his own equipment) all the flyers and magazine ads. He also designs and updates their website and forum. Eddie is very important to Acme Workshops’ marketing strategy. It is a nightmare when Eddie is too busy working for other customers, because his contract with Acme does not permit him to send a replacement.

Eddie works unsupervised and, generally, he works from home, but sometimes he works in the offices of Acme Workshops. Eddie invoices Acme Workshops at the end of each campaign design and guarantees the quality of his material.

Question 1 - Should Acme Workshops consider Eddie to be their worker?


Is Eddie a worker?

Eddie is a self employed graphic designer. He works regularly for a company, Acme Workshops Ltd.

His role is unique. He designs (and, if necessary, prints on his own equipment) all the flyers and magazine ads. He also designs and updates their website and forum. Eddie is very important to Acme Workshops’ marketing strategy. It is a nightmare when Eddie is too busy working for other customers, because his contract with Acme does not permit him to send a replacement.

Eddie works unsupervised and, generally, he works from home, but sometimes he works in the offices of Acme Workshops. Eddie invoices Acme Workshops at the end of each campaign design and guarantees the quality of his material.

Eddie cannot reasonably be considered a worker, as:

i) he is not an employee ii) he sometimes uses his own equipmentiii) he works unsupervised and iv) he guarantees the quality of his work


Is Georgina a worker?

Georgina is a self employed IT professional who works full time for Acme Workshops Ltd. Georgina supports Acme Workshops’ in house payroll system and is very important to Acme Workshops and no one else has the expertise to do her work when she’s on holiday.

Georgina works in Acme Workshops’ payroll team, alongside Acme Workshops’ own employees in their offices, but sometimes she is allowed to work from home. Georgina invoices Acme Workshops at the end of each month based on the number of days she has worked.

Should Acme Workshops consider Georgina to be their worker?


Is Georgina a worker?

Georgina is a self employed IT professional who works full time for Acme Workshops Ltd. Georgina supports Acme Workshops’ in house payroll system and is very important to Acme Workshops and no one else has the expertise to do her work when she’s on holiday.

Georgina works in Acme Workshops’ payroll team, alongside Acme Workshops’ own employees in their offices, but sometimes she is allowed to work from home. Georgina invoices Acme Workshops at the end of each month based on the number of days she has worked.

Should Acme Workshops consider Georgina to be their worker?

Georgina can reasonably be considered a worker, because: she is supervised by Acme (needs permission to work at home) she works in their offices (uses their office equipment and supplies), and she is paid a daily rate (the completed work is not guaranteed)


Automatic enrolment and Opt-outs

Window for possible Opt-out period

Latest possible date Opt-out period ends (unless invalid Opt-out extends Opt-out period to 6 weeks)

1 month

Earliest possible date Opt-out period ends

Latest date by which active membership and provision of jobholder information and enrolment information must be achieved and therefore the latest possible start date for 1 month Opt-out period.

6 weeks

Joining window

Backdating of scheme membership to the automatic enrolment date

Earliest possible start date for 1 month Opt-out period

1 month


6 weeks

Timescales for postponement at staging

6 weeks

Joining window

Backdating of scheme membership to the automatic enrolment date

Up to 3 months

postponement

Staging dateAssessment date/ automatic

enrolment date (for eligible jobholders)

Opt-ins could be received

from this date

Latest date by which active membership and provision of jobholder information and enrolment information must be achieved.

Postponement notices must be

issued by this date(for staff postponed on the staging date)


Opt-in – one calendar month pay reference period

6 weeks

Joining window

Staging date

Earliest Opt-in enrolment date (for monthly paid jobholders)

Opt-in request received in this period

1 month PRP 1 month PRP


Backdating of scheme membership to the enrolment date

1st 1st


Opt-in – one tax month pay reference period

6 weeks

Joining window

Staging date

Earliest opt-in enrolment date (for monthly paid jobholders)

If opt-in request is received in this period (1st to 5th inclusive, if

not past payroll cutoff)

1 month PRP 1 month PRP


Backdating of scheme membership to the enrolment date

1st 6th

5th 6th 5th 6th


Scenario AAssessment date on first day of PRP

Yes

UK worker aged 22 to SPA?

No statutory duty to enrol

No

Staging date

31st

C

1st

R P0 C

1st

R P1 C

1st

R P2

31st 30th

Yes

Total QE paid in PRP > earnings

trigger ?

No

Staging and a calendar month PRP•Pay reference period runs from 1st to last day of each month

•Assessment date is 1 April

•Total qualifying earnings may not be known until payroll cutoff or later.

If the worker needs to be automatically enrolled:

•First deduction needs to made in payday P1 on 28 April

•Opt-out window may not start until after deduction taken

•Scheme contribution based on 100% of May pensionable pay.

Monthly pay reference period (PRP)

Key: C – Payroll cutoffR – Payroll runP – Payday

Issue letter to worker and set up active

membership

Opt-outwindow could start

28th 28th 28th

Automatic enrolment triggered

March April May


Scenario BAssessment date on 1st

day of month

Yes

UK worker aged 22 to SPA?

No statutory duty to enrol

No

5th

C

6th

R P0 C

6th

R C

6th

R P2

5th 5th

Yes

Total QE paid in PRP > earnings

trigger ?

No

Staging dateMonthly pay reference period (PRP)

Key: C – Payroll cutoffR – Payroll runP – Payday

Opt-out window could start

P1

Feb March April

Issue letter to worker and set up active

membership

Automatic enrolment triggered

28th 28th 28th

1st

Staging with a tax month PRP•Pay reference period runs from 6th day to 5th day of each month

•Assessment date on 1 April (ie the staging date) is after the March payday P1 on 28 March

•Total qualifying earnings (in PRP 6

March to 5 April) assessed using old tax year earnings thresholds.

If the worker needs to be automatically enrolled (from 1 April):

•First deduction needs to made in the next payday P2 on 28 April

•Opt-out window could start before first deduction taken

•Contribution based on scheme rules(eg for a legal min scheme, based on 100% of April’s qualifying earnings).

dm 2750193 v3f these slides remain the property of the pensions regulator and their content should...

Documents

pensions regulator

pension scheme enrolment

workplace pension scheme

private sector workers

micro employers

qualifying scheme

millions of people

private sector employees