Account settings | Help and support

Can you help me with setting up my Sage 50 Payroll?

Karishma Mulji — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 15:03:09 +0000

You’ll need to contact Sage directly for help with setting up your payroll.

The Sage 50 Payroll Help Centre has a step-by-step guide to export the files from Sage which you can use to assist you:

If you’re using the pensions AE module, you can export the files from Sage by setting up a data exchange to send this automatically to us. The Sage 50 Payroll Help Centre has a step-by-step guide to setting this up:

How do I work out what my pay period (PRP) should be?

Karishma Mulji — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 15:14:36 +0000

The pay period (PRP) is the time between regular wages or salary. You might also see it called a pay/payroll frequency, payroll period, or payroll schedule. They’re usually either weekly, monthly, 4-weekly or fortnightly. Employers can choose to align these to tax weeks or months.

The pay period relates to the amount of time the employee is paid for, rather than the amount of time between payments (pay frequency). If an employee is paid weekly on a Wednesday for hours completed between Sunday and Saturday the previous week, the pay period is from Sunday to Saturday, not Sunday to Wednesday or Wednesday to Wednesday. The pay period should include the day the employee is being paid.

Examples of a pay period

Tom is paid a monthly salary in arrears, regardless of how many hours he works in the month. He’s paid on the 20th of April for work done from the 1st to the end of the previous month (March). Tom’s pay period runs from the 1st to the end of the month in which he is paid (1 – 30 April).

Sarah is paid a weekly salary and works 1-7 of April but is paid in arrears on the 8th of April for the work she carried out. Her earnings period is 1-7 April, but her pay period is 8- 14 April.

Sheree is paid weekly on March 25 for the hours worked from March 1 – March 31. His earnings period and pay period is from March 1 – 31.

Nish is paid weekly on a Friday for the hours worked during the week, beginning on a Monday and ending on the Sunday. His earnings period and pay period is from Monday – Sunday.

What’s a worker group?

Karishma Mulji — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 14:39:45 +0000

A worker group is a way of grouping your employees with the same contribution level or contribution basis. We then use this information in the member’s joiner information to confirm the contribution rate. So it’s important this is correct.

Worker groups are also used to help support you with your legal obligations. When submitting your pension data, we’ll check your contributions based on the contribution levels set out in your worker groups. It helps you make sure you’re paying the legal minimum contributions or the contribution levels you’ve agreed with your employees. To help your pension data file go through smoothly each time, your worker group settings should match your payroll software settings.

If you register using the Simply Comply route, we’ll automatically set up a worker group based on the minimum contribution levels under auto-enrolment legislation.

You can set up different worker groups with different rates of pension contributions, as long as you meet the minimum contribution levels set out by law. Or you can set up worker groups on different contributions basis (for example, one on Qualifying earnings and one on Set 1: Pensionable earnings (basic).

You can set up as many worker groups as you like.

For example, if you have a group of employees contributing 5% of their qualifying earnings and another group contributing 7% you’ll need 2 worker groups. Each worker group will have its own unique worker group ID which you choose yourself.

What’s a worker group ID?

A unique worker group ID is needed so that each worker group can be easily identified on the data file you send to us. It can contain letters or numbers to differentiate it from other worker groups.

It’s important you enter this into your payroll software exactly as displayed in your Online Services account for us to place employees in the right worker group. Please note, this is case sensitive.

Does every different contribution rate have to be set up as a worker group?

You need to set up a different worker group for each different contribution level. If you don’t, then the member’s joiner information will not show the correct contribution rates.

How to set up or edit a worker group in your Online Services account

If you’d like to view, add or amend a worker group, please log in to your Online Services account. Under your home screen ‘manage employer’ section, select ‘manage worker groups’. Don’t forget to update your payroll (if you’re using one) to match any changes you make.
If you’d like more support with how to do this, our Online Services quick guide has some handy screenshots to help.
Please note, you’re not able to change the worker group identifier or basis of contribution yourself. Please get in touch and we’d be happy to help.

Why does the pay reference period (PRP) differ from the earnings period?

Karishma Mulji — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 15:17:34 +0000

The pay period (PRP) is the time between regular wages or salary. The earnings period is the time that salary is worked for. As some employees are paid in arrears, sometimes the earnings period and pay period are different.