Pensions Auto-enrolment staging dates

If clients were set up in business on or before 1 April 2012 they should be monitoring their staging date: the date on which automatic enrolment duties apply from.

To do this, the client’s PAYE reference can be entered on the Pensions Regulator website at http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/staging-date.aspx

If you already provide a payroll service for clients you may want to run their PAYE references through this process so you can pro-actively advise clients.

But what happens if clients became employers after 1 April 2012? Here is what the Regulator says should be done:

There are some circumstances where entering your PAYE reference into the tool won’t necessarily provide your staging date, as follows:

• You’ve brought forward your staging date and agreed this with The Pensions Regulator. If you’ve notified us that you intend to bring your staging date forward, these changes won’t be reflected in the dates returned by the tool.
• You’ve set up in business after 1 April 2012. If this applies to you, you can find your staging date in table 1 below.
• You have since 1 April 2012 changed your, or acquired a new, PAYE reference. You will need to enter the old PAYE reference(s). If you are a new employer entity then please refer to the bullet point above.
• You have certain types of staff but don’t have a PAYE scheme. In this case your staging date will be 1 April 2017.
• You had fewer than 30 staff on 1 April 2012, had no staging date associated with your PAYE reference, and you don’t fall into any other exception category. In this case your staging date will be 1 April 2017

Table 1: staging dates for employers who set up after 1 April 2012

Even if clients have no requirement to auto enrol, they may still have to notify the Regulator to complete their obligations.