AUTO ENROLMENT: STAGING DATES

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1 PENSIONS PROFILE July 2012 AUTO ENROLMENT: STAGING DATES Summary A staging date is the date an employer must abide by the auto enrolment regulations. Staging dates will be based on PAYE data held by HMRC as at 1 April Small employers with fewer than 50 workers sharing the payroll with a larger company can determine their own staging date. New PAYE schemes created after 1 April 2012 will have a specified staging date based on when they started. Staging dates An employer s staging date will be based on PAYE data held by HMRC as at 1 April If a new company is set up after 1 April 2012 their staging date will be based on the date their new PAYE date is established. For example, a new PAYE record established on 1 March 2013 would mean the employer s staging date would be 1 May ANY QUESTIONS? If you have any questions or comments in relation to this article, please pensions.technical@landg.com

2 2 PENSIONS PROFILE Employer auto enrolment table Employer (by PAYE scheme size or other description) Date before which notification to automatically enrol early must be sent Staging date 120,000 or more 1st September st October , ,999 1st October st November ,000-49,999 1st December st January ,000-29,999 1st January st February ,000-19,999 1st February st March ,000-9,999 1st March st April ,100-5,999 1st April st May ,000-4,099 1st May st June ,000-3,999 1st June st July ,000-2,999 1st July st August ,250-1,999 1st August st September ,249 1st September st October st October st November st December st January st January st February st March st April st April st May st June st July st July st August st September st October st October st November st December st January st February st March st March st April

3 3 PENSIONS PROFILE Employer (by PAYE scheme size or other description) in their PAYE reference numbers 92, A1-A9, B1 B9, AA AZ, BA-BW, M1- M9, MA-MZ, Z1-Z9, ZA-ZZ, 0A-0Z, 1A- 1Z or 2A-2Z in their PAYE reference numbers BX Date before which notification to automatically enrol early must be sent 1st May st June 2015 Staging date 1st June st July st July st August 2015 in their PAYE reference numbers BY 1st August st September st September st October 2015 in their PAYE reference numbers BZ in their PAYE reference numbers 02-04, C1-C9, D1-D9, CA-CZ, or DA-DZ in their PAYE reference numbers 00, 05-07, E1-E9 or EA-EZ in their PAYE reference numbers 01, 08-11, F1-F9, G1-G9, FA-FZ or GA-GZ in their PAYE reference numbers 12-16, 3A-3Z, H1-H9 or HA-HZ in their PAYE reference numbers I1-I9 or IA-IZ in their PAYE reference numbers 17-22, 4A-4Z, J1-J9 or JA-JZ in their PAYE reference numbers 23-29, 5A-5Z, K1-K9 or KA-KZ in their PAYE reference numbers 30-37, 6A-6Z, L1-L9 or LA-LZ in their PAYE reference numbers N1- N9 or NA-NZ 1st October st November st December st January st January st February st February st March st March st April st April st May st May st June st June st July st July st August st August st September

4 4 PENSIONS PROFILE Employer (by PAYE scheme size or other description) Date before which notification to automatically enrol early must be sent Staging date in their PAYE reference numbers 38-46, 7A-7Z, O1-O9 or OA-OZ 1st September st October 2016 in their PAYE reference numbers 47-57, 8A-8Z, Q1-Q9, R1-R9, S1-S9, T1- T9, QA-QZ, RA-RZ, SA-SZ or TA-TZ 1st October st November 2016 in their PAYE reference numbers 58-69, 9A-9Z, U1-U9, V1-V9, W1-W9, UA- UZ, VA-VZ or WA-WZ in their PAYE reference numbers 70-83, X1-X9, Y1-Y9, XA-XZ, or YA-YZ in their PAYE reference numbers P1- P9 or PA-PZ in their PAYE reference numbers 84-91, Less than 30 persons in the PAYE scheme not meeting any other description contained in the first column of this table Employer who does not have a PAYE scheme payable between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013) payable between 1st April 2013 and 31st March 2014) payable between 1st April 2014 and 31st March 2015) payable between 1st April 2015 and 31st December 2015) payable between 1st January 2016 and 30th September 2016) payable between 1st October 2016 and 30th June 2017) 1st December st January st January st February st February st March st March st April st March st April st March st April st April st May st June st July st July st August st September st October st October st November st December st January

5 5 PENSIONS PROFILE Employer (by PAYE scheme size or other description) Date before which notification to automatically enrol early must be sent Staging date payable between 1st July 2017 and 30th September 2017) 1st January st February 2018 Complex PAYE structures Most employers operate just one PAYE scheme which makes identifying their staging date very easy. Some employers operate several different PAYE schemes for their employees that they hold contracts of employment for. In this scenario the employer must auto enrol all those employees at the point that the first PAYE record triggers. For example, an employer operates two payrolls. One for 1,000 employees (with a staging date of 1 October 2013) and another for 50 employees (with a staging date of 1 May 2015). All 1,050 employees are contracted to work for the same employer. The employer must enrol all eligible workers from the first staging date applicable to them; in this case it is 1 October Where an organisation has several sub-groups it is the employer that actually employs the workers that is responsible for the auto enrolment. For example: Company A has a PAYE of 1,000 workers with a staging date of 1 October 2013 whilst Company B has a PAYE of 50 workers; its staging date is 1 May Although part of the same group they only hold the contracts of employment for the workers on their respective PAYE. Consequently, they retain their separate auto enrolment dates. Small employers (defined as having less than 50 actual workers on their PAYE) that share a single payroll scheme with a larger employer will not be required to auto enrol their employees at the same as the large employer. Instead they will be prescribed a new staging date between 1 August 2015 and 1 April A small employer will be able to base their staging date on the number of workers on the PAYE and discount any former workers whose pension benefits are paid through the same PAYE. For example: The Widget Company employs 45 individuals and these workers are all paid through the PAYE scheme. In addition there are a further 10 former employees that have final salary pension benefits paid through the same PAYE scheme. In total there are 55 members of the PAYE scheme. The employer may, if they wish, exclude the 10 pensioners and base their staging date on the 45 workers. Consequently the Widget Company will have a later staging date If a company takes over another, the staging date will be triggered by the larger employer. 5

6 6 PENSIONS PROFILE Bringing forward a staging date Some employers may wish to align their staging date to a point in the year that would be more suitable. For example, a retailer gearing up for the busy Christmas period may wish to bring forward their staging date to a more suitable time. Employers with staging dates between October and November 2012 may be able to bring forward their staging dates to June 2012 whilst those with a staging date of 1 January 2013 or later can bring forward their staging dates to September Just in case anyone asks, no employers are subject to a staging date of December If an employer wishes to bring forward their staging date they must inform the Pensions Regulator at least one month before the new staging date. 6

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8 This is not a consumer advertisement. It is intended for professional financial advisers and should not be relied upon by private customers or any other persons. This document is based on Legal & General s current understanding of tax law, HMRC practice and legislation which may change. It should not be considered a definitive statement in law. Legal & General Assurance Society Limited Registered in England No Registered office: One Coleman Street, London EC2R 5AA Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. PP07/12 Non GASD