Postponement | Help and support

Can I postpone my duties start date and how long can I do this for?

Karishma Mulji — Tue, 05 May 2015 15:20:55 +0000

Yes, you can do this for a maximum of 3 months. There are 3 types of postponement. These can be used separately or combined. They can’t be used back to back.

We only need to know about postponement choices if The People’s Pension is being used to assess the workforce.

Staging postponement – an employer can postpone assessing their workforce from their duties start date for up to 3 months.

New starter postponement – an employer can postpone assessing their new starters for up to 3 months.

Eligibility postponement – an employer can postpone enrolling someone who has become eligible for the first time, to cope with spikes in earnings. This makes allowances for those individuals who may only become an eligible employee every now and again and saves the administrative duties associated with frequently changing someone’s status.

Does your scheme allow postponement?

Niki Smith — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 13:03:32 +0000

Yes, the maximum legal period that you can delay putting employees into your pension scheme is 3 months if you have a monthly payroll and 12 weeks if you have a weekly payroll. If you plan to do this, your duties start date stays the same but your first pay reference period (PRP) start date will change according to when we’ll expect that first contribution. Postponement is an option under the Simply Tailor sign-up route.

What’s a qualifying pension scheme?

Niki Smith — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:03:10 +0000

Not all pension schemes are suitable for auto-enrolment. The pension scheme you do use needs to meet certain qualifying criteria, which is why it’s referred to as a ‘qualifying pension scheme’.

If you’ve an existing pension scheme and you want to continue using it for auto-enrolment, you’ll need to check that it meets the qualifying criteria.

When would I use postponement?

editorial — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:58:01 +0000

There are several reasons you may decide to postpone. For example, it gives you the flexibility to align your administration and payroll processes. It can also help you to offset any contributions for temporary or short-term employees who leave soon after joining your company or reach the trigger for being auto-enrolled just before ceasing employment.

You can choose to use postponement on the following dates:

– your duties start date
– the first day of employment for any new employees who join your company after your duties start date
– the date an employee reaches the trigger to be an eligible jobholder after your duties start date (eg when an employee turns 22 years old).

You must write to tell the employees whose auto-enrolment you’re postponing. You’ll have 6 weeks from the date postponement starts to write to them.