Setting up a workplace pension
What new employers need to know and do to auto-enrol their staff and meet their employer duties
We aim to make workplace pensions simple for all new employers
Our step-by-step guide will help you meet your employer duties and leave you to get on with what you do best – running your company.
Setting up your workplace pension with us is simple
Employing staff for the first time
You’ll need to start complying with the automatic enrolment duties immediately – from the first day your first member of staff starts working for you.
When your duties start date was less than 6 weeks ago
It may be possible to postpone for up to 3 months. Be quick though, as the company’s employees need to be told about the postponement within 6 weeks of your duties start date.
You can also use postponement from an employee’s first day of employment or the date that they first meet the criteria to be put into a pension scheme.
Step-by-step auto-enrolment guide
Work out who you need to put into the pension scheme
You’ll need to assess your employees to see if any of them meet the age and earnings criteria to be put into a pension scheme.
By law, any employee who is 22 years of age or older (but under State Pension age) and earns more than £10,000 a year (for the current tax year) must be enrolled in a pension scheme. If you’re an employer with at least 1 eligible member of staff, then auto-enrolment will apply to you.
Make sure your payroll software is up to speed
Most payroll software is compatible with automatic enrolment and will work out who you need to put into a pension scheme. In some cases, you may need to make some changes to your payroll software.
You can submit your employee data to us easily and securely so we can allocate pension contributions into employee pension savings. You can enter this data yourself, or you might be able to submit it to us automatically from your payroll software provider. You’ll need to speak to your payroll software provider about this option.
Sign up with People’s Pension online
When you’re ready, sign up with us online. It’s quick, easy, and there’s plenty of help along the way.
Tell your employees about the workplace pension scheme
It’s important to let your staff know about their new pension.
You’ll also need to tell those who don’t need to be automatically put into the pension scheme, as they’ll still have the option to join if they want to.
And you’ll need to tell your employees if you’re using postponement.
We can help with that. We have template letters, posters, and videos for this – one for our Simply Tailor sign-up and one for our Simply Comply sign-up.
Log in to Online Services
Once you’re all set up, you can log in to Online Services to manage your account.
This is where you submit your employee data every pay period – including new starters and employees who have asked to join.
It’s also where you add money to staff pension savings and oversee any members of staff who want to leave the scheme. Your payroll should also monitor employee ages and earnings to make sure you’re paying the right amounts, and that you’ve enrolled everyone who needs to be in the pension scheme.
Complete you declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator
The final step is to complete your declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within 5 calendar months of the start of auto-enrolment duties.
We can help inform the regulator for you.
You’ll find the pension scheme details you need to do this by logging in to your Online Services account. You can choose whether you want us to help inform them or if you want to do it yourself.
Getting set up with People’s Pension: 2 options
Option 1: Simply Tailor
We provide a variety of set-up options, allowing for a tailored solution:
- It allows you to postpone putting employees into a pension scheme
- It allows you to vary the amounts paid for different employees
- It’s suitable whether employees are paid weekly, fortnightly, monthly or over any other period
- It allows the addition of subsidiary companies
Option 2: Simply Comply
To make it easier to sign up, we complete as much of the account set-up as possible:
- We provide a fast-track option that takes just a few minutes to set up
- We are set up to accept minimum payments based on employee earnings in line with automatic enrolment rules
- It’s suitable if employees are paid weekly or monthly
Both options come with our full support:
- Friendly UK contact teams who are just a phone call away
- Online help and support, how-to videos, and downloadable guides
- A training mode in our system for employers to practise data uploads once registered
All for a one-off set-up charge
It’s one payment of £500 + VAT. Or it’s free of charge for employers who sign up with a business adviser (a financial adviser, accountant, bookkeeper, or payroll provider). If the adviser registers with us (for free), they can give employers a reduced charge code and they can get an adviser account to help employers sign up.
Ready to get started?
Have you already taken on your first member of staff but haven’t set up your pension scheme? Ideally, employers should set up a workplace pension scheme before the start date of their auto-enrolment duties. But don’t worry, it’s not too late!
Get set up as quickly as possible
Are you within 6 weeks of your duties start date?
Our Simply Tailor set-up route allows some duties to be postponed.
Are you 6 weeks or more past your duties start date?
The quickest and simplest way is to use our Simply Comply set-up route, or you can use Simply Tailor for a more tailored set-up.
The Pensions Regulator will ask for any missed pension contributions to be backdated to the missed duties start date.
Need help?
We’re here for you Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm (except bank holidays). You can email us at newbusiness@thepeoplespension.co.uk or call us on 0129 3586 643.
Don't forget to contact The Pensions Regulator
You need to let The Pensions Regulator know that we’ll be providing a pension scheme for the business you’re signing up. Give them a call on 0345 6001 011 and have the company’s PAYE reference number to hand. The Pensions Regulator fines businesses who don’t meet their legal duties, like missing their duties start date.
Setting up a workplace pension scheme if you’re self-employed
If you’re self-employed and want to pay into a pension through your business, you’ll need to set up a workplace pension scheme with us.
