To help answer any questions you may have, we've collated the questions you're asking us about NHS Pensions.

Should I select Previous year or Current year in NHS Pension Tiers?

When you click Payroll then NHS Pension Tiers there's an option for Previous year or Current year for each employee. Your software correctly applies the same thresholds and rates with either of these options selected, so you don't need to amend this.

How are the recommended pension tiers calculated?

NHS Pensions recommends pensions tiers based on each employee's annual salary. The annual salary is calculated using both the NHS contract information you enter and the pay you're processing for that period.

For more information on how the annual salaries are calculated, please refer to NHS Pensions - annual salary calculation >

Why is the SD number section in the employee record blank?

This will only populate once the SD number has been entered into the SD field within the NHS Pension Tiers section of the module.

Is there a report, which will show the different tiers an employee has been on during the year?

No. The NHS pension reports in payroll will only show which tier an employee is currently assigned to.

Do I need to run a Pension Assessment?

Only if you have employees who aren't on the NHS Pension Scheme. Automatic Enrolment doesn't apply to employees on an NHS Pension Scheme, and so you don't need to set up the Automatic Enrolment module or run a Pension Assessment for these employees.

You would only need to do so if an employee leaves the NHS Pension scheme or isn't contractually enrolled onto the NHS scheme for another reason. Normal Automatic Enrolment rules would then apply just to those employees.

No scheme was created when setting up the NHS Pensions Module

This is caused when there is no Accounts Office selected within Company Settings.

1. Click Company, then Settings.
2. Click HMRC Payments.
3. In Accounts Office, select either Shipley or Cumbernauld.
4. Click OK.

You can then retry step 2 in NHS Pension Settings.

Can I only enter APC amounts in increments of £250?

Yes, along with your employee you should work out the value of any APCs based on how much pension they need to make up. For help with this calculation, please refer to the NHS online portal.

Why is NHS Pensions recommending two different tiers?

Sage 50 Payroll recommends pension tiers based on the NHS contract information you enter and the pay you're processing for that period. Most of the time this is the same tier, which is the one the employee's assigned to.

You may have a scenario where based on the employee's NHS contract information, the software recommends a certain tier. Then however, from the payroll information you enter for that period, the software recommends a second, different tier. In this scenario, you must either leave the employee in the tier they’re in, or choose which tier to assign them to. For help with which tier to use, you should speak to your pension administrator.

Why does the recommended pension tier show as Infinity?

This happens when there is no Pay Factor saved within NHS Pension Settings. To resolve this you should:

1. Click Company, then NHS Pension Settings.
2. In Pay Factor, select either 52 or 52.1429.
3. Click Save.

You can then go back to NHS Pension Tiers and it will correctly recommend a pension tier.

I can't save NHS Pension Tiers after applying a tier?

This is commonly caused by one of two things:

• Missing Pay Factor in NHS Pension Settings
• Duplicate NHS Pension schemes on the Employee Record

For more information on resolving this issue, please refer to NHS pensions - unable to apply an NHS pension tier >

How do I process NHS pensions for an employee who's on statutory leave?

When an employee is on statutory leave, you must record their normal pensionable hours using their normal tier. However, the employee pension contribution is only based on the employee's pay received while on leave, and the employer contribution is based on the employee's normal pay.

Find out how to process this in our handy guide, process NHS Pensions for an employee on statutory leave.

How do I record an unauthorised absence or disallowed day?

Pensionable hours and pension contribution should be reduced for the period of unauthorised absence. To do this, in Enter Payments, reduce the employee's hours by the amount of time the employee was on authorised leave.

If required, you can record your employee's absence in the absence diary. To do this, click Employee, click Employee Record, click Absence, click Diary Entry, enter the relevant absence details, click OK then click Save.

How do I amend the NHS Pension scheme for the Scottish or Northern Irish Scheme?

The NHS Pensions module only uses the NHS Pension bands and rates for England and Wales. You can't process a Scottish or Northern Irish scheme with the module.

Instead, you should process NHS pensions manually. Our Tiered pensions - Teachers, NHS and local government pensions guide includes a CSV file to set up tiered pension schemes that you could then amend to the Scottish or Northern Irish rates. 

My employee is working overtime beyond their whole time equivalent (WTE), how do I record this?

For an officer, overtime hours worked in excess of their WTE hours aren't pensionable. Therefore for any hours worked that exceed the WTE limit, you must split this payment up into separate pay elements. For example, one that is pensionable and one that isn’t.

View example

In a week, an employee works 25 hours at normal pay, 10 hours of shift work and then 7 hours of overtime. The WTE is 37.5 hours. This means that only 2.5 hours of the overtime are pensionable. The other 4.5 hours aren't pensionable. To correctly record this, you must split the overtime into two separate pay elements, for example, pensionable overtime and non-pensionable overtime.

When creating a pay element, to make it non-pensionable, clear the Pensionable Hours check box.

How do I move to a new computer if I process NHS pensions?

If you get a new computer you should install Sage 50 Payroll on the new computer as normal. You can then take a backup that includes Pension Data Files of any companies you need to transfer on your old computer, and restore this into payroll in the new computer.

 NOTE: You must ensure you include Pension Data Files when you take a backup on the old computer.

For further help to transfer to a new computer, visit our guide covering the process. Transfer Sage 50 Payroll to a new computer >

Does the NHS pension scheme use Qualifying Earnings?

NHS pension schemes do use Qualifying Earnings to calculate pensionable pay. When you use the NHS Pensions Module, this box is automatically ticked and you can't change this.

Which pay elements are pensionable?

If you aren't certain which of your pay elements should be set as pensionable, contact NHS Pensions or your pension administrator.

'There was an error saving the employees' when updating employee's pension tiers

This is caused by the audit trail setting. As a workaround to prevent the error:

1. Click Company, then Audit Trail Settings.
2. Select the Enable Audit Trail Reporting check box.
3. Click Save.
4. Update the pension tiers as normal