Pensions
All employers must offer a workplace pension scheme by law. The employee, the employer and the government pay into the pension.
Workplace pensions- what your employer can and cannot do
NALC Advice Note (formerly Legal Topic Note 79)
Employees earning over a certain amount must be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme. Many councils have Local Government Pension Schemes. If you do not, you have the option of enrolling into a government pension scheme such as NEST.
If you use a payroll software provider other than Basic PAYE Tools, you must send the employee a letter with the option to postpone for up to three months. The software system will usually have a letter template.
The employee can choose to opt-in or opt-out during this period. If they choose to opt-out, the letter will give options relating to this.
The minimum pension contribution an employee must pay is 3%. The minimum contribution an employee must pay is 5%.
Employers must make a declaration to The Pensions Regulator. You will need to re-enrol employees and redeclare your compliance every three years.
From the HMRC Basic PAYE Tools User Guide: Basic PAYE Tools does not help you work out who to automatically enrol or calculate pension contributions. You need to make sure you calculate pension contributions before using Basic PAYE Tools to make sure the amounts you enter are correct. You are liable to fines if you do not meet your obligations.