When you run the Pension Assessment in Sage 50 Payroll, you may find the the postpone option is greyed out/not available. This may also occur when the employee is an eligible jobholder.

Check if the employee was automatically enrolled this period

You can only postpone employees who have been automatically enrolled in the current tax period. This is because you can only postpone employees in the first period they become eligible. 

Check when they have been automatically enrolled and make sure this is the first period they were enrolled.

1. Click Pension Assessment. 
2. Under Status, hover over the magnifying glass.

If the employee was not automatically-enrolled this period, you can't postpone them.

NOTE: Employees can't be postponed if they were automatically-enrolled this period due to Cyclical Re-enrolment. If an employee is cyclically re-enrolled and doesn't want to be in the scheme, they must opt out again.

Check if the employee has been 'Joined' to the pension scheme

If an employee has been manually Joined to the pension scheme, they cannot be postponed. 

1. On the Employee List, double-click the employee's name. 
2. Click Pensions.
3. Check Current Status on the right hand side, or the Status column in the table.

When this shows Joined, the pension scheme was assigned to the employee manually and they can't be postponed.

If this is the first period the employee has been on the scheme delete the pension scheme and run the Pension Assessment again.

1. On the Employee List, double-click the employee's name.
2. Click Pensions.
3. Click Manage Schemes.
4. Highlight the relevant pension scheme, click Delete.
5. Click Close, then Save, then Close.

You can now re-run the Pension Assessment and postpone the employee.

NOTE: You can only remove the pension scheme if there aren't any Year To Date values associated with it. If there are, you should either rollback the employee or speak to The Pensions Regulator for further guidance.

Check if they have been postponed previously

In the period the postponement ends they must be automatically enrolled if they are an eligible jobholder. If they're a non-eligible jobholder or entitled worker when the postponement ends they won't be enrolled. The next time they become an eligible jobholder, they can be postponed again.

You can't postpone employees back-to-back immediately after a postponement ends. There must be a break of at least one pay period between postponements.

You should check if the employee has been postponed previously and if so, when the postponement ended.

Check the Employee Record

1. On the Employee List, double-click the employee's name. 
2. Click Pensions.
3. Check the Status column in the table.

Check the table for any periods they were postponed for.

If they were postponed in the last entry on the table, you can't postpone them again. They must be automatically enrolled if they are an eligible jobholder.

Check for a postponement letter

You can also check if a postponement letter has been produced and if so when the date of postponement ends.

1. Click Payroll, then Send Pension Correspondence.
2. Click View historical by employee.
3. Check for the employees name, to see letters generated for them.

Click the title of any letters here if you'd like to view a preview. If you click a Postponement letter, you can view the postponement end date.

NOTE: If the postponement end date is listed as 01/01/0001 on a letter, contact technical support. 

Try a different employee record

Check to see if the postpone feature is unavailable for everyone or just a specific employee.

1. Take a backup.
2. Select a different employee who you know to be a non-eligible job holder and does not have a pension scheme assigned.
3. Click Enter Payments
4. Amend the employee's pay to make them an Eligible Jobholder
5. Click Close.
6. Click Pension Assessment
7. Check to see if the postpone option is available.

If the option to postpone is active then the issue relates to a specific employee.

Refresh the Employee Record

1. Select the required employee, click Tasks, click Global Changes, click Pensions then click Add Pension Scheme.
2. Complete the Add Pension Scheme window
3. Click OK, click Yes, then click OK
4. Select the required employees, click Tasks, click Global Changes, click Pensions, then click Remove Pension Scheme.
5. Click the finder button  then, from the drop-down list, choose the pension scheme you want to remove.
6. Click OK, click Yes, then click OK
7. Re-try applying postponement.