Staying compliant
Here’s what you need to know to stay on top of your employer duties.
How to stay compliant
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to provide a workplace pension for all eligible employees and meet your ongoing legal duties. Not doing so can risk a fine, so you need to be in the know and keep updated on your responsibilities.
Here’s what you need to know to ensure your workplace pension meets its legal obligations.
Understand your duties
Your pension responsibilities begin as soon as you employ someone who qualifies for a workplace pension. This is known as your duties start date. From that moment, you’re expected to monitor your employees, keep clear records of your decisions and actions, and make sure everyone who’s eligible is assessed fairly.
Once your duties begin, there’s a short window – six weeks – to tell your employees about their pension. This means explaining that they’re being assessed, letting them know whether they’ll be enrolled, and outlining the choices available to them, including opting out if they prefer.
Clear communication helps people understand the benefits of saving for later life, and it can boost engagement too. If you want to make things simple, you can visit The Studio which offers ready-made templates and resources designed to help you share the right information in a clear way.
You must assess your employees every pay period to work out who needs to be enrolled, based on age and earnings criteria.
You must automatically enrol any UK-based employee who:
- Is aged between 22 and State Pension age
- earns more than £10,000 pa
If you employ even one person, auto-enrolment is still part of your legal duties. You may wish to find out more how the auto-enrolment thresholds work and what you need to do.
Keeping good records makes your ongoing duties easier, and it ensures employees receive the correct pension contributions at the right time.
Once your pension scheme is up and running, you’ll start making contributions for your employees. The law sets a minimum amount that you must pay, though you can choose to contribute more if you want to offer additional support.
What matters most is that contributions are accurate and paid on time, every time.
Every three years, employers need to revisit their workforce and re-enrol (LINK 223 guide) any eligible employees who previously opted out. This isn’t optional – it’s part of the law, and it gives employees another chance to start saving for their future.
Even if no one needs to be brought back into the scheme, you’ll still have duties to complete during this cycle.
After you’ve set up your workplace pension, there’s one more crucial step: telling The Pensions Regulator how you’ve met your legal duties. This is done through an online declaration of compliance, and it must be submitted within five months of your duties start date. Missing the deadline could result in a fine.
You’ll need to re-declare every three years, even if nothing has changed. If you’d like us to handle this step for you, just choose the option in your Online Services account once you’ve signed up.
Your legal duties don’t end once everything is up and running. You’re required to keep detailed records of your assessments, contributions, opt-ins and opt-outs, and anything else related to auto-enrolment. Good record-keeping helps you stay compliant and makes re-enrolment much easier when the time comes.
Any questions?
Pensions might feel complicated at first, but they don’t have to be. Our UK-based support team is on hand to help you navigate your responsibilities with confidence. Whatever you need, just get in touch — we’re always happy to support you and your business.
