Retail worker stood in a sports store using a tablet computer
Automatic enrolment of seasonal staff

Many businesses hire extra staff during the summer to help with increased demand — especially in retail, delivery, and hospitality. While seasonal staff can provide essential support during busy periods, it’s important for employers to remember their legal duties around workplace pensions, also known as automatic enrolment.

What is automatic enrolment and who does it apply to?

Automatic enrolment requires employers to enrol certain staff into a workplace pension scheme and contribute to it. This can apply even if someone only works for the employer for a short period of time.

Automatic enrolment responsibilities apply to seasonal and temporary staff just as they do to permanent staff. Seasonal staff can be trickier to assess because they:

  • may start or end their employment in the middle of a pay cycle;
  • often have variable wages and hours; and
  • may work for short periods of time.

Employers must individually assess any seasonal or temporary staff each time they are paid. This includes staff with variable hours and pay.

Automatic enrolment must be considered for staff who usually work in the UK who:

  • are aged between 22 and State Pension Age; and
  • earn over £192 per week or £833 per month.

Unless they have opted out, if a worker qualifies for automatic enrolment, employers have a legal obligation to:

  • operate a workplace pension scheme;
  • ensure that eligible jobholders are enrolled; and
  • make at least the minimum level of contributions - for both employer and employee.

We covered some further specifics of automatic enrolment in a previous edition of Employer Focus, including the required minimum contributions.

Employers who fail to comply with their workplace pension duties may receive a warning notice with a deadline to comply. Those who continue to fail, risk a fine.

How employers can manage their obligations

To help employers comply with their obligations, The Pensions Regulator provides some helpful guides on managing automatic enrolment for:

The Pensions Regulator also notes that the following tools can help employers meet their legal duties:

Use of payroll software – most payroll software will help assess who needs to be enrolled in a workplace pension scheme. Having the right payroll software in place can save time and reduce errors, especially when dealing seasonal staff.

Consider postponement –  this lets employers delay assessing whether a staff member needs to be enrolled for up to three months. It can be helpful for seasonal workers, as it allows a decision to be taken when more details about their earnings and hours are known.  Employers must advise staff individually in writing that postponement is being applied to them within six weeks of the postponement starting.

 

This article reflects the position at the date of publication. If you are reading this at a later date you are advised to check that that position has not changed in the time since.  

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