Pension contribution checks for employers

Our auto-enrolment contribution checks provide extra safeguards, helping you stay compliant.

About auto-enrolment contributions

Under UK law, you must automatically enrol eligible employees into your workplace pension scheme and make the minimum contributions to their pension savings.

How it works

The total minimum contribution is 8% of an employee’s qualifying earnings. This is made up of at least 3% from the employer and 5% from the employee, with tax relief included.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for checking that you as an employer enrol eligible staff and pay the correct contributions.

Our contribution checks help you stay compliant with auto-enrolment rules. Think of them as an extra safety net, giving you peace of mind.

Why do you need contribution checks?

Failing to meet your auto-enrolment duties can be costly:

You could be issued with a fine or even face prosecution if you don’t comply.
If you miss contributions or fail to enrol eligible staff, you may also need to repay missing contributions.

That’s why contribution checks are important.

They help catch errors early to keep you compliant, protect your business from admin headaches and ensure your employees get the pension savings they’re entitled to.

How we help you stay compliant

Staying on top of your auto-enrolment duties doesn’t need to be stressful.

When you submit your employee data through your Online Services account, our checks help make sure your contributions meet the legal minimums - or the levels you’ve chosen.
We calculate your contributions based on your worker group settings and the pensionable earnings you enter in the ‘Pensionable Earnings per PRP’ column (PRP means pay reference period – the time frame you use for paying employees, such as weekly or monthly).
We also review your employee data to confirm you’re meeting the legal minimum contributions, or your agreed contribution levels.
Common errors include things like overpayments, underpayments, incorrect earning thresholds, missing re-enrolment duties or miscalculating contributions from maternity pay.

If we spot a problem, we’ll let you know straightaway so you can put it right.

Understanding pensionable earnings

Pensionable earnings are the parts of an employee’s pay used to work out how much both the employee and employer contribute to a workplace pension.

They can include:

basic salary
overtime
bonuses
commission
and statutory payments like maternity, paternity and sick pay.

This varies depending on which contribution basis you use.

Choosing a contribution basis

You can calculate pensionable earnings in three main ways:

Earnings between the upper and lower-level earning thresholds — currently between £6,240 and £50,270. Employers can contribute above this limit, but it is their choice.

For example, if an employee earns £25,000 a year, contributions are calculated on £18,760 (£25,000 minus £6,240).

When you submit your figures through your Online Services account or integrated payroll, the Pensionable Earnings Per PRP column should include the earnings used to calculate contributions. Contributions are based on the percentages set in your worker groups in the Online Services account.

How are adjustments made?

Sometimes you may need to make an adjustment for a previous overpayment or underpayment to account for a bonus or overtime pay. If this happens, please get in touch with us and we’ll send you an adjustment form.

Contribution checks Q&A

Your questions about contribution checks, answered.

There’s a little flexibility for rounding purposes.

For example, if ‘Pensionable Earnings per PRP’ are £1,249.87, a 3% employer contribution would be £37.50, and a 5% employee contribution would be £62.49.

We’ll guide you on how to calculate contributions, but the earnings and contributions you send us must be accurate to stay compliant. As the employer, you’re responsible for checking contributions are assessed and paid correctly.

Employer contributions are based on a percentage of the ‘Pensionable Earnings Per PRP,' so they shouldn’t be higher than that amount.

If you’re submitting figures that include a one-off bonus, update your ‘Total Earnings Per PRP’ column to reflect this. In this case, this figure may be higher than the ‘Pensionable Earnings Per PRP’.

Your employees can pay more into their pension savings if they wish, but there are limits on how much tax relief they can receive. If they’re under 75, employees can receive tax relief on contributions up to 100% of their UK taxable earnings or £3,600 gross per tax year, whichever is higher.

There’s a maximum amount they can pay in across all of their pensions before tax charges apply. This is called the annual allowance. For the 2025/26 tax year it’s £60,000, or 100% of earnings if they earn less than £60,000. Employees can also carry forward any unused annual pension allowance from the previous three tax years.

The annual allowance reduces to £10,000 if an employee flexibly accesses their pension savings, such as taking a large lump sum or moving money into a drawdown account. This reduced limit is called the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA).

If you have any more questions about our contribution checks, please contact us.