MAY14WEBINAR These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction. The information we provide

MAY14WEBINAR These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction.

The information we provide is for guidance only and should not be taken as a definitive interpretation of the law.

Louise Gubbins

Head of automatic enrolment training

Rebecca Woodley

Industry liaison team

8 May 2014

Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance (registration)



Since the recording of this webinar “registration” is now referred to as “declaration of compliance”.

Automatic enrolment – Declaration of Compliance (registration)



What is automatic enrolment declaration of compliance (registration)• Declaration of compliance (registration) is the legal requirement for employers

to submit information to the regulator about how you’ve complied with your employer duties.

• All employers with one or more workers must declare with the regulator.

• Declaration is mandatory and you could get fined if you don’t do it in time or at all.


• Our approach is to

– educate

– enable, and

– enforce.

• We will promote good compliance behaviour among employers by ensuring that the legislation is being applied fairly.

• We can intervene if necessary to provide more guidance or information to help an employer declare.

• We may need to take action if you fail to comply with your duties.

• You must declare even if you don’t have anyone to automatically enrol.

Why is declaration so important?



When to complete declaration

• Declaration must be completed within five calendar months of the employers staging date.

• An employer can only complete declaration in full after your staging date and only once you have automatically enrolled any eligible jobholders.

• The regulator will begin to write to all employers with information ahead of their declaration deadline.

• If your declaration deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or UK public holiday you can submit your declaration on the next working day.



Who can complete declaration?

Declaration can be completed by:

• the employer for example someone from HR or someone from payroll

• a representative acting on behalf of the employer (eg an accountant or bookeeper).



Ways of completing declaration

• The online declaration service is a secure, effective and efficient way to record your details:

– available 24 hours a day, seven days a week

– access to the online service is via Government Gateway, a widely used secure public service interface

– an employer can start their declaration at any time providing you have your 10 digit letter code.

• If you do not have access to the internet you can complete declaration either by writing to us or calling our customer support centre.



Information you will need to provide

• Employers must provide a specific set of data items prescribed in law that are mandatory to the declaration process.

• In addition, they are asked to provide other data items that validate the regulator have the correct employer information.

The employer or their representative must:

• confirm they have authority to declare on behalf of the employer

• provide their contact details and details for the most senior contact within the organisation

• provide PAYE information

• provide workforce details

• provide pension scheme information

• declare that all the data they have provided is accurate.



Benefits of starting early

.• You can start the process at any time provided you have your 10 digit letter code.

• You can complete much in advance except information about your workforce.

• Filling in details as you go through your planning process will help you avoid missing your deadline.

• Don’t leave it until the last day to start declaration – you are likely to run out of time and will not be fully compliant.



How often does declaration occur

• An employer will complete the declaration process and submit their declaration within five calendar months from their staging date.

• All employers are required to complete re-declaration roughly every three years from their staging date.

• At re-declaration employers must re-enrol those staff who have Opted-out or ceased active membership back into your automatic enrolment pension scheme, providing they are still eligible.

• Complete re-declaration with the regulator using the same online declaration service.

• Re-declaration will give the regulator updated information about your organisation, your workforce and the number of staff automatically enrolled.



Keeping records

• An employer is required to keep regular records on all automatic enrolment activity.

• After an employer’s staging date, they must:

– keep certain records on aspects of their compliance with the new duties

– preserve those records

– produce those records to the regulator, if requested.

• You must retain any Opt-in, joining or Opt-out notices you receive from your staff as this is proof that they have exercised these rights.

• Records about the pension schemes.

• Most records must be kept for a minimum of six years, with the exception of those relating to opt-outs, which must be kept for a minimum of four years.

• Employers who outsource business or pensions administration to a third party may authorise the third party to keep or provide the records on their behalf.



Question and answers



Automatic enrolment declaration – Questions

Q: As part of declaration, does an employer need to provide details of which definition of pay reference period is being used? If no details need to be provided as part of the declaration process, how should the definition be recorded? This seems to be an integral part of proving compliance since using different definitions can have a significant effect on an employer's duties.

A: Employers do not have to provide information about their pay reference periods at declaration. Employers will need to determine their pay reference period and this will be the period of time over which they pay their workers their regular remuneration or salary. There are certain records an employer will need to keep which are outlined in our detailed guidance “Record keeping”, but no information about pay reference periods is needed in terms of declaration.


Q: Do you have to complete declaration just once within the deadline or would it be required to be done every three years?

A: Declaration is initially required within five calendar months of the staging date, and then subsequently every three years at the employer’s re-declaration date, employers will be required to complete re-declaration with the regulator.



Q: Can an automatic enrolment consultant complete the declaration process on behalf of an employer?

A: Essentially, anyone can complete declaration providing that they have the authority to do so on behalf of the employer, and have all of the mandatory information. However, although the completion of declaration can be outsourced to a third party, it remains the employer’s responsibility to ensure that it’s completed correctly and on time.



Q: I deal with two companies’ payroll - they both have separate PAYE references how do I complete both declarations as at the moment it will only let me action one?

A: Individuals completing declaration for more than one employer will need to log in as ‘Acting on behalf of an employer’. If you have logged in as an ‘Employer’, you will only be able to complete one declaration.



Q: We only have one employee and he wants to opt out. Do we still need to complete declaration?

A: Yes – every employer with at least one worker will need to complete declaration, regardless of what they’ve done with their workers at their staging date. If an employer only has one worker who wants to opt out, they’ll still need to be automatically enrolled if they meet the relevant criteria before they can leave the scheme.



Q: I am unclear as to the requirement of the last box in the declaration check list. If all staff employed at the staging date were reported then how can those opting in or leaving not have been accounted for? Please could I have clarification on this point.

A: Employers are required to tell the regulator what they did with every worker employed by them at their staging date, regardless of whether they’ve been automatically enrolled or not. Workers not accounted for in the previous boxes will be:

• workers who have opted in or joined a scheme between the staging date and when you complete declaration,

• workers who are not aged between 22 and the state pension age and do not earn over the relevant earnings trigger,

• workers who have left employment between the staging date and the declaration date,

• new starters between the staging date and the declaration date,

• workers who have been contractually enrolled between the staging date and the declaration date.



Q: I’ve signed up for a Government Gateway ID and it says I have enrolled, but I haven’t had to provide any information apart from my letter code and PAYE reference number – does this mean I have completed declaration as it is saying that I’ve now enrolled? Are they the same thing?

A: No they’re not – when you successfully signed up for a Government Gateway account, you will have received a message confirming this. This doesn’t mean that you have completed declaration – it just means that you’ve created a Government Gateway account. Through the Government Gateway you will then enrol onto the declaration service. You will then need to proceed through to the “overview” page , which will enable you to start your declaration. Here you will provide details as to how you have met your employer duties .



Q: The number of persons provided at declaration will not match the number of persons in our PAYE scheme – does this mean that I have to account for the difference, and if so, where?

A: At declaration, employers need to provide the figures for the total number of workers in employment at the staging date. This will be everyone in employment at the staging date.

Note: This may not necessarily be everyone included in your PAYE scheme, for example, if your PAYE scheme contains individuals who have left your employment but are in receipt of a pension these do not need to be accounted for in declaration.



Q: We have taken on new staff since our staging date – do we include them in our workforce figures?

A: No – we only need to know about workers in employment at the employer’s staging date. Any new starters after this date do not need to be recorded for declaration purposes but will be accounted for at re- declaration if they are still in your employ.



Q: What happens if I don’t complete declaration within the timeframes? Can I still complete declaration if it’s late?

A: Employers are required to complete declaration correctly and on time. If an employer is having difficulties with the process of automatic enrolment or gathering the appropriate data required to successfully complete declaration within the statutory deadline, contact us without delay.



Q: I have applied the transitional period for a DB scheme in respect of an eligible jobholder who is already an active member of a qualifying pension scheme at our staging date. How do I include this as part of declaration, as it asks for the number of workers who are already in an existing scheme, and the number of workers that the transitional period applies to?

A: Employers will need tick the box to say that they have applied the transitional period and will need to say how many workers this applied to. They should not include the figure in the number of workers already an active member of a qualifying workplace pension scheme.



Q: Can we provide approximate figures at declaration, and then confirm them at a later date? Can this information be updated after the declaration is submitted? If so, how long do we have to update it?

A: The employer has a responsibility to ensure that the information they submit as part of the declaration is correct and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief, and will be required to confirm the declaration that this is the case. Therefore, care should be taken to ensure that accurate figures are provided where required. Declarations should not be submitted with inaccurate information as it’s an offence to knowingly or recklessly mislead the regulator. If having completed declaration employers come to learn that some of the details included are incorrect, they should make sure they update the information within two weeks. The employer will be required to re-confirm the legal declaration.



Q: Our automatic enrolment duties have been met as a result of most of our workforce already being active members of a qualifying scheme at our staging date. Why don’t you need details of these pension schemes at declaration?

A: The law only requires us to capture information about the pension schemes that employers have used to automatically enrol eligible jobholders.



Q: As part of declaration, do we need to confirm that all of the statutory information was sent to our workers on time?

A: The information required for declaration following an employer’s staging date does not include details of whether employers have issued their statutory communications to their workers on time.



Q: Where should we include workers who were subject to postponement but left employment between our staging date and the end of the postponement period?

A: Workers who were employed on your staging date but ceased employment before your deferral date, and who were therefore not automatically enrolled, should be included in the ‘workforce details’ section, in the field titled ‘how many workers do not fall into the categories above?’.



Q: When entering our workforce details, should we include numbers from our staging date or our deferral date?

A: You must provide the total number of workers on your staging date, the number of workers who were in a qualifying pension scheme on and before your staging date, and the number of eligible jobholders automatically enrolled with effect from your staging date (if you have not used postponement).

If you’ve used postponement for all of your workers in employment on your staging date, you must provide the number of eligible jobholders automatically enrolled with effect from your deferral date(s).

If you have applied postponement to only some of your workers, you must provide both the number of eligible jobholders automatically enrolled with effect from your staging date and the number automatically enrolled with effect from your deferral date(s).




Useful links

• Information about declaration of compliance (registration):www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/automatic-enrolment-registration.aspx

• Online declaration service: start filling in your detailswww.autoenrol.tpr.gov.uk/

• Declaration of compliance (registration) checklistwww.tpr.gov.uk/docs/automatic-enrolment-online-registration-checklist.pdf

• Declaration video demonstration

• A walk-through guide on how to use the online service.https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/registration/Downloads/

• Letter templates for employers:www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/letter-templates-for-employers.aspx

• Compliance and enforcement:www.tpr.gov.uk/docs/pensions-reform-compliance-and-enforcement-strategy.pdf

• Detailed guidance:www.tpr.gov.uk/doc-library/automatic-enrolment-detailed-guidance.aspx



Useful links continued…

Recent webinars:

• Are you ready?www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-are-you-ready.aspx

• Automatic enrolment – dispelling the myths

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-automatic-enrolment-dispelling-the-myths.aspx

• Identifying your workforce and calculating minimum contribution levels

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-identifying-workforce-calculating-minimum-contribution.aspx

• Implementing automatic enrolment systems and pension schemes

www.tpr.gov.uk/press/webinar-implementing-automatic-enrolment-systems-schemes.aspx

Online planning tool:

www.tpr.gov.uk/employers/planning-for-automatic-enrolment.aspx



We would really appreciate your feedback on this webinar. Please click on the link below to complete.

https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/register_compliance/Engage/?RPID=17403

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Documents

MAY14WEBINAR These slides remain the property of The Pensions Regulator and their content should not be altered on reproduction. The information we provide