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 2012. 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 2012. 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 2017. ANY QUESTIONS? If you have any questions or comments in relation to this article, please email pensions.technical@landg.com
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 2012 1st October 2012 50,000-119,999 1st October 2012 1st November 2012 30,000-49,999 1st December 2012 1st January 2013 20,000-29,999 1st January 2013 1st February 2013 10,000-19,999 1st February 2013 1st March 2013 6,000-9,999 1st March 2013 1st April 2013 4,100-5,999 1st April 2013 1st May 2013 4,000-4,099 1st May 2013 1st June 2013 3,000-3,999 1st June 2013 1st July 2013 2,000-2,999 1st July 2013 1st August 2013 1,250-1,999 1st August 2013 1st September 2013 800-1,249 1st September 2013 1st October 2013 500-799 1st October 2013 1st November 2013 350-499 1st December 2013 1st January 2014 250-349 1st January 2014 1st February 2014 160-249 1st March 2014 1st April 2014 90-159 1st April 2014 1st May 2014 62-89 1st June 2014 1st July 2014 61 1st July 2014 1st August 2014 60 1st September 2014 1st October 2014 59 1st October 2014 1st November 2014 58 1st December 2014 1st January 2015 54-57 1st February 2015 1st March 2015 50-53 1st March 2015 1st April 2015 2
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 2015 1st June 2015 Staging date 1st June 2015 1st July 2015 40-49 1st July 2015 1st August 2015 in their PAYE reference numbers BY 1st August 2015 1st September 2015 30-39 1st September 2015 1st 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 2015 1st November 2015 1st December 2015 1st January 2016 1st January 2016 1st February 2016 1st February 2016 1st March 2016 1st March 2016 1st April 2016 1st April 2016 1st May 2016 1st May 2016 1st June 2016 1st June 2016 1st July 2016 1st July 2016 1st August 2016 1st August 2016 1st September 2016 3
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 2016 1st 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 2016 1st 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, 93-99 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 2016 1st January 2017 1st January 2017 1st February 2017 1st February 2017 1st March 2017 1st March 2017 1st April 2017 1st March 2017 1st April 2017 1st March 2017 1st April 2017 1st April 2017 1st May 2017 1st June 2017 1st July 2017 1st July 2017 1st August 2017 1st September 2017 1st October 2017 1st October 2017 1st November 2017 1st December 2017 1st January 2018 4
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 2018 1st 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 2013. 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 2015. 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 2017. 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 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 2012. Just in case anyone asks, no employers are subject to a staging date of December 2012. 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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