Taking on seasonal staff? You'll need to consider pensions

Employers who take on staff for short periods of time, i.e. over Christmas or summer, will need to consider the impact of pension auto-enrolment.

If you employ seasonal or temporary staff you must assess them individually to see if they are eligible for auto-enrolment every time you pay them. This includes staff who work for you for a few days, a few weeks or several months.Eligible staff are those who:

• are not already in a qualifying pension at work
• aged 22 or over
• under State Pension age
• earn more than £10,000 a year (figure subject to change)
• work in the UK

However, this doesn't necessarily mean every staff member has to be enrolled into the pension scheme each time they begin working for you. An employer can choose to delay assessing and therefore enrolling; an individual, some, or all of their staff into a pension scheme for up to three months.

This option is not intended to encourage employers to put off their duties for as long as possible, but is instead designed to help to align automatic enrolment with other business processes, i.e. start of their financial year, or if they have temporary or short-term staff who they know will stop working for them within three months.

Employers can only postpone automatic enrolment from:

• their staging date
• a staff member's first day of employment
• the date a staff member first becomes eligible for automatic enrolment
  

However, postponement doesn't mean that employers can just sit back and ignore the regulations for temporary staff. Employers must write to staff within six weeks to tell them they're postponing automatic enrolment for them. However, staff can still request to opt in to your pension scheme during the postponement period.

On the last day of the postponement period, you will need to know whether any member of staff whose automatic enrolment was postponed is still eligible to be enrolled. If they are, you must put them into a pension scheme straight away. However, if that employee is no longer with the business they will not need to be enrolled.

Need more guidance?

If you're looking for guidance on your auto-enrolment responsibilities, ActSmart can help.

ActSmart have made arrangements to introduce you to Elliott Sanders of  Copthorne Hundred Wealth Management, a Partner Practice of St. James's  Place Wealth Management. 

St. James's Place Wealth Management are one of  the leading wealth management organisations in the UK with a national  network of advisers. Using their experience, they offer businesses and individuals a wealth management service, incorporating pension advice. The advice is face-to-face and tailored  to your business or personal objectives.

• Complimentary initial consultation
• Face-to-face advice
• Impartial advice
• Advice is guaranteed by St. James's Place when recommending any products or services provided by the St. James's Place Group
  

Phone Elliott Sanders's team on , email Elliott.Sanders@sjpp.co.uk or complete the enquiry form here.

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