However, if you contact our support team, they can look into investigating if your file can be deleted for you.

You may want to delete a file if you have:

• greatly overpaid contributions
• greatly underpaid contributions
• included an employee on the file who has now left the company.

If payment for the contribution is processing or has cleared, we may not be able to delete your file. If you’re looking to delete the file due to incorrect contributions, you can add any missed contributions or subtract overpaid contributions on your next file submission.

If you don’t match the fields in your data file to the ones we display on screen, we won’t be able to process your file. So it’s important you make sure your columns are matched correctly.

If we can, we’ll automatically match your fields for you. But if not, you’ll see a drop-down box to select the column in your data file that includes the information we’re looking for.

Once you’ve matched your non-optional fields, you’ll be able to click continue at the bottom of the page and carry on with submitting your data. Once you’ve done this initially, unless the format of your data changes, you won’t need to do this again.

Do I need column headers on my file?

No. However, we strongly advise that there are column headings on the file to help you match the columns.

“Employee is aged 75 or over and has contributions on the file”

This will happen if you’ve submitted contributions for an employee that is now 75 or over. To stop the file error, you’ll need to remove the member who is over 75 from the file. You’ll need to get in touch with us to request a form to complete the first pay period this affects. You can then submit the same form each time contributions are needed, simply update the pay period and amounts as required. The form can then be sent to Support@peoplespartnership.co.uk

Your worker group settings tell our system the contributions basis and what contribution levels you’re paying for your employees. You can check your worker group by selecting ‘manage worker group’ on your account home screen of Online Services.

You should check you’re entering your worker group name exactly as it is entered, including any capitals.

The AE date is the date the employee has been assessed and becomes eligible to join the scheme. Only Eligible employees should have an AE date in your data file. This is because they’re the only type of employees that are auto-enrolled.

• Opt in dates:

This is the date the employee asked to opt in to the pension scheme. Non-Eligible employees are those that have opted into the pension scheme, so should have an ‘Opt in date’.

• Scheme join dates:

This is the date the employee asked to join the pension scheme. Entitled jobholders have asked to join the pension scheme, so should have a ‘Scheme join date’.

File upload errors about AE, scheme join and opt in dates

There are a range of errors that you could see relating to these dates. These are covered in more depth within our ‘Troubleshooting error guide’.

Most of these can be fixed by checking the data in your file is correct. You should also make sure the employment start date, date of birth and file dates are correct. The file will error if you try to upload it with a date that is prior to any of these.

What if you’ve submitted a date in error?

If you’ve realised the date you’ve submitted isn’t right, please get in touch with us and we’ll be able to help.

A file contains employee data and contribution amounts and is used to send information to The People’s Pension. It needs to be in either an excel (.xls, .xlsx) or comma separated value (.csv) format.

What file types do you accept?

Files can be uploaded as either a ‘full file’ or a ‘maintenance’ and ‘contribution’ file. The type of file needed will depend on the account settings. If you need to change your settings, perhaps because you’ve changed payroll software, then simply get in touch with our support team.

A full file contains both employee data and contribution amounts.

What’s the difference between a maintenance and contribution file?

A maintenance file contains only employee data – so you might not have one every pay period to send to us. A contribution file contains contribution amounts and limited employee data for us to allocate contributions. You’ll need to send us a contribution file every pay period.

Where do I get a file from?

It most often comes directly from your payroll with just a few clicks. We’re compatible with most payroll software providers!

If you’re not sure if we’re compatible, please check with your payroll provider.

If you don’t use payroll software, you can use our file template to create your own.  Or think about manually entering your employee data if you’ve less than 30 employees.

How do you use file upload?

You or a third party such as a payroll bureau are responsible for uploading files through your Online Services account. Check out our ‘Upload your employee data guide’ with simple step-by-step screenshots to help you along the way.

What do I need to include in my file?

This depends on the file type you’re using. Our requirement guides below outline all the data you’ll need to send us – usually your payroll software will do all this for you though.

Full File data requirements

Maintenance File data requirements

Contributions File data requirements

If you’re unsure when your start date is, we recommend that you speak to your payroll provider.

We’ll expect your employee data by the end of the first pay period. Payment needs to reach us by the 22^nd of the following month.

If you pay your employees weekly, we’ll expect employee data weekly. Similarly, if you pay them monthly, we’ll expect your employee data monthly.

Then send us your employee data regularly

After your first submission, you should send us your employee data every pay period.

Please check what details we hold in the ’Employees details section’ of Online Services and compare it to your data file. If you’ve updated a date of birth for example, we may suggest a match. You can just select ‘match’ for these members.

If any of the details in your data file are incorrect, you should cancel, amend the data and send to us once again.