Reply to: Pension Auto Enrolment

[SueEllen]

Hmmmm, got a letter with my date for Auto Enrolment, sent the email away but today got another letter.

Has anyone else got one after opting out already?

Reply to them again.

Some government organisations are carp.

If they send you a letter a third time only then phone them up and take them to task.

[SimonMac]

Hmmmm, got a letter with my date for Auto Enrolment, sent the email away but today got another letter.

Has anyone else got one after opting out already?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Bumping this old thread to raise the issue of director vs company secretary again. There seemed to be an implication that the exception for directors applied equally to any company officers but the Pensions Regulator website seems to contradict this - they only refer to directors. For example:

Automatic enrolment enquiries | The Pensions Regulator

We're a husband and wife company - do automatic enrolment duties apply to us?

If no one else is working for the company, it will depend on your roles and if you have employment contracts, as to whether you have automatic enrolment duties or not. You can find more information about employment contracts on the employment status section of the GOV.UK website.

If you are both directors:

The company will have automatic enrolment duties for both of you if both of you have employment contracts.
The company won’t have any automatic enrolment duties if only one of you has an employment contract, or neither of you has.

If one of you is a director and the other is not:

The company will have automatic enrolment duties for the person who isn’t a director.
If you both have contracts of employment, the company will also have automatic enrolment duties for the person who is a director.
If the company does have automatic enrolment duties for anyone, what you need to do will depend on their age and earnings. For more information, go to check who you need to enrol.

If you believe you don’t have automatic enrolment duties you will need to inform us in writing.

Taking the above at face value then it seems I count as an employer for the purposes of this bull tulip.

This would also seem to back up the view that a company secretary isn't considered a worker UNLESS they also receive a salary for their duties:
http://www.icaew.com/en/members/prac...auto-enrolment

Seems like the easiest thing I could do to avoid this fuss would be to just be done with it and make my wife a director?!

[Wijay@WISAccountancy]

Difference between Opting Out and Exemption

Hi,
Reading the threat I think few confusion on "opting out" and "Exemptions".
1. Employer can NOT Opt out but can be exempted from the regulation if you are sole director (even if wife is a director or secretary)
No staff to automatically enrol? | The Pensions Regulator

2. You need to fill in the webform to declare company is NOT a employer for Pension purposes
https://automation.thepensionsregula.../notanemployer

Hope this is clear. Thank you
Wijay@WISAccountancy

[BolshieBastard]

Accountancy practice mailed me today. Said they'd been contacted by the Pension people re auto enrolment. They told them neither director in my limited has a contract of employment so would not be enrolling.

Pension people have accepted this and confirmed no need to enrol. Top accountants, mine

[SimonMac]

Once you get the letter, how long do you have to reply and opt out? I ask because I'm out of the country for 6 weeks over summer and am wondering if I should get someone to keep an eye out for this?

There is a deadline on the letter, mine was about a month

[dty]

Once you get the letter, how long do you have to reply and opt out? I ask because I'm out of the country for 6 weeks over summer and am wondering if I should get someone to keep an eye out for this?

[TheFaQQer]

Yes, it affects all companies.

If you want to opt out, and you can if the company only comprises directors or has only one director that is also an employee, you can do that.

Opt out here once you receive your staging date (you'll need some codes from your letter with the staging date).

Also, see here on CUK.

Sent my email last Monday, reply came back today

[jamesbrown]

Reading through all this carp, my limited is supposed to get some letters about auto enrolment. Todate, Ive got nothing. Neither of the two directors are PAYE we earn are below the threshold?

The site says if we're not paye the auto enrolment date will be 1 April 2017, unless the limited co opt out (if it isnt closed down?)?

So I sit back and wait for these auto enrolment letters then tell them my limited is opting out?

Ive only returned to contracting to 'top up' my pension pot. Im intending doing no more contract work in 4 years time, hopefully less and in the meantime, Im not looking to be contracting more than 40 weeks in each of those remaining years.

If my limited has to pay into this pension, it'll get the sum of sweet FA back when we retire or close the company. I cant be the only one in this position. Its a fecking joke.

I dont suppose there's anything to cover this scenario?

If you're saying that there are two directors, neither of whom have a contract of employment, and no other "workers" (defined in the detailed guidelines) it should be straightforward. Sit back and wait for the letter to arrive with your staging date. Send the template e-mail to opt out. Await confirmation. Job's a goodun.

[BolshieBastard]

Reading through all this carp, my limited is supposed to get some letters about auto enrolment. Todate, Ive got nothing. Neither of the two directors are PAYE we earn are below the threshold?

The site says if we're not paye the auto enrolment date will be 1 April 2017, unless the limited co opt out (if it isnt closed down?)?

So I sit back and wait for these auto enrolment letters then tell them my limited is opting out?

Ive only returned to contracting to 'top up' my pension pot. Im intending doing no more contract work in 4 years time, hopefully less and in the meantime, Im not looking to be contracting more than 40 weeks in each of those remaining years.

If my limited has to pay into this pension, it'll get the sum of sweet FA back when we retire or close the company. I cant be the only one in this position. Its a fecking joke.

I dont suppose there's anything to cover this scenario?

[NickFitz]

Got my letter today, with a staging date of July 2017, but with threats of dire consequences if I didn't register a named individual as a point of contact by the end of this month.

The mailto: link worked for me, so hopefully they'll leave me alone now. I remember when support for "body=" in the mailto: link query string first started appearing, around 1997. I don't think I've seen it actually used in real life for well over ten, or even fifteen, years, though - I'd expect even a local shop's one page website to have a "Contact us" form, even if it just posted to an ancient CGI script that turned it into email

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Nah, if you ask me, she isn't a "worker" for the purposes of auto-enrolment. She's doing duties related to the office, not earning revenue under a contract of service. But that's just my opinion.

I'm inclined to agree but in the face of unclear guidance, depending on the amount of effort involved it may be easier to simply comply. I will await my accountant's guidance on the matter though.

[Platypus]

To be honest, family businesses should be able to opt out of this altogether. Like I said, load of bollocks.

Hopefully over time the guidance will be clearer for SMEs, for whom the rules were not designed for.

By the way, I agree that it's all a bit silly in a micro-business scenario, because a qualifying "worker" can subsequently decide themselves to opt out. It's really just to avoid larger employers from evading their responsibilities, rather than to trap micro-businesses in red tape (sounds familiar).

This is a PITA. I enrolled myself today (that being the company's staging date). The website is a doddle to use although understanding all the processes and set up isn't easy. I might well opt out next month

[jamesbrown]

By the way, I agree that it's all a bit silly in a micro-business scenario, because a qualifying "worker" can subsequently decide themselves to opt out. It's really just to avoid larger employers from evading their responsibilities, rather than to trap micro-businesses in red tape (sounds familiar).

[jamesbrown]

My wife is company secretary. She also receives a small salary. She also has duties relating to company admin, managing of the payroll, dealing with my expenses etc.

On that basis, it seems like it could be argued that the salary she receives might be partly for her being company secretary but also partly for her other duties which could therefore make her a "worker".

She has no formal contract of employment however when she was made company secretary, board minutes were raised outlining the fact that she was to be made company secretary, what her duties were and that she would receive a small salary for this.

It seems like this could be taken for a form of contract so it seems like I'll need to err on the side of caution on this one.

To be honest, family businesses should be able to opt out of this altogether. Like I said, load of bollocks.

Nah, if you ask me, she isn't a "worker" for the purposes of auto-enrolment. She's doing duties related to the office, not earning revenue under a contract of service. But that's just my opinion.