Automatic enrolment - Employee pension assessment

To comply with Workplace Pensions legislation, you must assess your employees every time you process a pay run. Payroll does this for you. It determines what type of worker each employee is.

Payroll will only start assessing your employees when you reach your duties start date, sometimes referred to as a staging date. This is the date set by The Pension Regulator (TPR) which you must enter into the program. Payroll assesses all employees at this point and assigns them a worker category. After this, employees get assessed every time you process a pay run.

New Payrolls

Payroll uses the pay date that falls into the same pay reference period (PRP) as your duties start date. This date can be either before or after your first pay run.

For employees who enrol onto the pension

 TIP: It’s common for the first pension deduction to be higher than you expect. This is because all staging dates are on the first day of the month. A tax month runs from the sixth to the fifth of the following month. This means the first pension deduction is for one month and five days rather than only one month. 

Different types of worker

Payroll assesses your employees and assigns a worker category. This determines whether they’re enrolled, or if they can opt in or join the scheme.

For information on types of worker, read the Pension Regulator’s guide.

Processing after your duties start date

When processing the pay run, If the system enrols an employee, a message appears at the PAY stage.

The Deductions section on the PAY screen displays the status of each employee.

Manage enrolment

You can use the Manage Enrolment options to:

• Postpone them
• Amend their contributions
• Process any opt out or leave requests.

Employee status report 

View the Employee Status report to:

• To check the status of each employee
• See the pension scheme they’re paying into
• See their enrolment date

 NOTE: This report is only available once you enter your duties start date.