Login .a{fill:none;stroke:currentColor;stroke-linecap:round;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-width:1.5px} Home Employers Learn about workplace pensions The pension journey The pension journey From assessing your employees to processing contributions, we’re with you every step of the way. The NOW: Pensions Trust (the ‘Scheme’) is set up to make your employees’ pension journey as easy as possible for them – and for you. Step 1: Auto enrolment assessment You need to assess all your employees so you know which ones are eligible to be auto enrolled. You must auto enrol eligible employees. Even if they’ve said they don’t want to join the Scheme, you’re required by law to enrol them and give them the option to opt out. Use your payroll We recommend you assess your employees through your payroll. That way there’s no need to wait for any information to be supplied from an outside organisation – it should all be in your payroll. Assessment question 1 – age The employee IS aged between 22 and State Pension age The employee IS NOT aged between 22 and State Pension age Assessment question 2 – earnings The employee DOES earn more than £10,000 a year? The employee DOES NOT earn more than £10,000 a year? Assessing your employees at a glance Type of employee Eligible jobholder Non-eligible jobholder Entitled worker Age 22-State Pension age 16-74 16-74 Earns £10,000+ £6,240-£10,000 Below £6,240 Auto enrolment status Must be auto enrolled Can ask to join Can ask to join Employer contribution status Employer contributions required Employer contributions required Employer contributions are required under the Rules of our Scheme Step 2: Enrolment You’ll need to set up your payroll function to deduct contributions from your eligible employees’ pay each month. If you’ve chosen Scheme tier (contribution model) 101 (the minimum contribution level based on qualifying earnings): the deduction is 5% of employees’ qualifying earnings, and you’ll add 3% to bring the total up to 8%. If you’ve chosen a different Scheme tier (contribution model), or more than one, you’ll need to set up your payroll function to deduct the correct contributions each month. To ensure the money is credited to members’ accounts promptly, you must pay the contributions into our Scheme on or before the 22nd of the month following the deduction date. There are penalties for late payments. We recommend using Direct Debit to transfer contributions quickly and easily. Download a Direct Debit Mandate for contributions Or, email directdebit@nowpensions.com to request a mandate. Step 3: Records We need accurate records so we can check members’ contributions are being collected and invested correctly. You’ll need to upload details of the contributions you’ve collected through your payroll to our system. Step 4: Employee communications You must tell your employees they’ve been auto enrolled and what this means for them. If you’re using our Scheme as your workplace pension, we can do this for you and ensure you’re fulfilling your legal obligations. Taking care of your employee communications Step 5: Declaration The final step of auto enrolment is to declare to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) that you’ve met your auto enrolment duties. You must do this within five months of your workplace pension’s start date. You can make your declaration online at TPR’s website. TPR has produced a checklist with all the information you need to give and where you can find it. Step 6: Opt-outs In each pay period you’ll need to check whether any employees have opted out within a month of being enrolled. To do this, you’ll need to download an employee action file from Gateway before you run the next payroll. If any employees have opted out within the one-month deadline, you’ll need to refund their contributions. You must not encourage employees to opt out, or suggest they’ll get some sort of reward if they do. This is known as ‘inducement’ and is illegal. Step 7: Ongoing assessment In each pay period you will need to re-assess employees who haven’t previously been auto enrolled to check whether they now meet the auto enrolment criteria. If they do, you’ll need to auto enrol them. Step 8: Checking for changes Before you process each future payroll, you’ll need to download an employee action file to check whether there have been any changes since the last payroll run. This could include employees: opting out opting in, or requesting a change in their contribution rate. Step 9: Re-enrolling employees who have opted out Every three years you’ll need to re-assess your employees who have opted out of the Scheme, and re-enrol them if they’re still eligible. Learn more on our ‘Re-enrolment – what you need to know‘ page. Browse Members Employers Payroll bureaus Financial advisers Support Help and support Resources Contact us Events Read News and insights Press Serving our members Legal information Learn About us Our mission Our investment strategy Careers Connect NOW: Pensions is registered in England and Wales as NOW Pensions Limited (No. 07766398), 6 Bevis Marks, London, EC3A 7BA. We are regulated by The Pensions Regulator and identifiable under the Pension Schemes Registry (PSR) under registration number 12005124 and HMRC reference number 00776316RJ. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies