Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux

Transcription

1 Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux

2 Contents Get ready with NOW: Pensions 3 Signing up clients online 4 Registration 5 Five steps to client sign up 6 Contributions models 7 Keeping track of client applications 8 Gaining access to your payroll bureau microsite 9 Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 2

3 Get ready with NOW: Pensions Auto enrolment is an opportunity for you to offer an enhanced service to your clients and generate more revenue. Our simple online registration and client sign up process is the first step to helping your clients get ready for auto enrolment. This document gives you details about how to get started. Software compatibility Before getting started it s important to check with your provider that your payroll software supports auto enrolment. This ensures you ll be able to transfer the relevant data easily and quickly. Our system is compatible with most payroll software providers in the marketplace. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 3

4 Registration To sign up your clients online you ll need to register for free with NOW: Pensions. This is a simple one off online registration that takes just a few minutes to set up. Registration Register at: Tasks After you ve registered you ll receive an outlining the tasks we expect you to be responsible for on behalf of your client. Once you ve agreed to these responsibilities, you re ready to start the online sign up process for your clients. Details found on page 6. Clients can choose to sign up themselves and nominate you as their primary scheme administrator or they can ask you to complete the details for them. 1 Your online account 2 Your bureau microsite It s important to know that you will be using two separate systems with us your registration gives you immediate access to your own online account and online Help Centre where you will be able to sign up your clients into the NOW: Pensions Master Trust. Just go to and login with the details you used when you registered. 1 Your online account 2 Your bureau microsite Only once your first client has gone through their sign up process you will be notified of your bureau microsite web address and your temporary password for this second system. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 4

5 Signing up clients online If you have all your client s information to hand, it takes about 5 minutes to sign up or verify a client. The following sign up checklist shows all the information you need. Sign up checklist Choice of contribution model Employer name Your client s auto enrolment staging date (your client can start their scheme early, to discuss the options available contact one of our regional partnership managers) Legal and organisational setup e.g. holding or subsidiary company/charity registration number (if applicable) Registered address Estimation of the number of employees to be included in the scheme Primary employer contact details (name and address) PAYE number Payroll provider or bureau contact details who will be sent relevant correspondence from NOW: Pensions Centrally controlled business address for employees without addresses to send communications to in a PDF file (only if NOW: Pensions is handling the communication) Payroll details (name and frequency) Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 5

6 Five steps to client sign up We ve designed our auto enrolment proposition to be as easy to set up and manage as possible, but to make the system run smoothly, there are five key responsibilities which you ll need to agree to during the registration process. 1. Payroll bureau selects the contribution model that the client has chosen Details about each model are shown on screen, so you can double check this is the correct selection. If an employer requires more than one tier type, you can add an additional tier by choosing from one of the five pre-defined plans in this section. See overleaf for more details. 2. Payroll bureau completes employer details In this section we need to know the employer s name, address, staging date, the nature of their business, information about the number of employees and their primary contact name and contact details. If as part of the initial registration, we have been asked to take care of all statutory employee communications relating to auto enrolment for your clients, we will produce all these communications. Ideally we will send these communications direct to each employee via , but in order to do this you will need to ensure the data file you will generate from your payroll software, contains a unique address for each employee. If you don t have some employees addresses, then as long as a PDF address has been completed on the application, the statutory communications will be delivered to a generic business as a PDF file for your client to send on to the employees. communications are sent free of charge but there is a postage fee for printed communications which will be sent in the absence of an employee address, or alternative PDF address. 3. Client approves participation agreement When you have input all the relevant data, the system generates an electronic participation agreement and asks you to share the agreement with your client s primary contact for their approval. The primary contact will receive an from our system asking them to electronically authorise the agreement. If you need to send it to someone other than the primary contact you can do this here as well. 4. Client completes Direct Debit details As part of the process for approving the participation agreement, the client will also be asked to complete their bank details for two Direct Debit Mandates. There is one Direct Debit required for pension contributions and another for our monthly employer service charge and any print and postage charges. Direct Debits for each payroll can be set up with different bank accounts if required. Clients can authorise Direct Debits through the system so there s no need to issue mandates to the client after sign up. 5. NOW: Pensions confirms application accepted When the client has approved the participation agreement, they recieve an from NOW: Pensions to say that the application has been completed successfully. You will also get an telling you that the application has been accepted. Please note: If a client does not accept their participation agreement within 30 days their link will expire. You will need to log back into nowpensions.com, select Manage My Applications and re-issue the agreement. See keeping track of applications later in this guide. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 6

7 Contribution models One of the most important decisions your clients need to make when they introduce auto enrolment is how much to contribute to their employees pensions. We recognise that different employers will want to contribute different amounts, so we offer five contributions models. Until March 2018* April 2018 March 2019* Contribution levels From April 2019* onwards Plan 101 Standard Meets the minimum contributions required for auto enrolment based on banded earnings 1% Employer 1% Employee 2% Employer 3% Employee 3% Employer 5% Employee Plan 102 Plus Meets the minimum contributions required for auto enrolment based on basic earnings 2% Employer 1% Employee 3% Employer 3% Employee 4% Employer 5% Employee Plan 103 Stepped saving A phased introduction to a more generous employer pension based on basic earnings 2% Employer 1% Employee 4% Employer 2% Employee 6% Employer 3% Employee Plan 104 Saving plus Compliant contribution model with total contributions of 10% or more based on basic earnings 5+% Employer 5+% Employee 5+% Employer 5+% Employee 5+% Employer 5+% Employee Plan 105 Matched saving Employee contributions, based on basic earnings, are matched by employer contributions within minimum and maximum amounts Flexible minimum and maximum ranges between 2-6% Minimum must be at least 3% Minimum must be at least 4.5% *Dates are subject to Parliament approval Banded earnings For the 2015/16 tax year the qualifying earnings band is between 5,824 and 42,385 a year. This means the first 5,824 of an employee s earnings does not count for the purposes of auto enrolment. So using our Standard plan for auto enrolment for a worker earning 20,000 a year, the amount we would calculate their pension contributions on would be only 14,176. Basic earnings These are the basic earnings of the employee excluding any fluctuating income such as bonuses, commission, overtime etc. The whole of the employee s basic earnings are taken in to account when calculating their contributions. So using our Plus plan for auto enrolment for a worker earning 20,000 before overtime or bonuses, the amount we would calculate their pension contributions on would be the full 20,000. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 7

8 Keeping track of client applications It s easy to keep track of your clients applications by logging in to the NOW: Pensions website. At any point in the application process you can login using your user name and password and click on Manage my applications. In here you ll see the status of each application. A description of each status is shown below. Status Description Advanced form Main application page. Agreement preview draft First preview agreement page. Agreement preview draft - shared Preview agreement page that has been shared. Direct Debit setup Agreement authoriser has clicked Continue and clicked Yes to Are you authorised to apply..., and is now at the Direct Debit page. Direct Debit setup shared Agreement authoriser has clicked No to Are you authorised to sign a Direct Debit Instruction on this account? and shared the form with someone who is authorised. Agreement preview final Agreement authoriser/direct Debit authoriser has confirmed bank details and has moved to the final preview of the agreement. Waiting for applicant to accept agreement Agreement authoriser (for whatever reason) has clicked No to Are you authorised to apply... and shared the form with someone else to authorise. Application submitted online Application has been submitted using the electronic method. Awaiting customer sign Application has been downloaded for wet signature/ posting. Approved Application is approved. Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 8

9 Gaining access to your payroll bureau microsite After the application has been approved by NOW: Pensions, you and your client will receive an containing your client s participation agreement. Microsite access Your URL When your first client is signed up you ll receive another with the URL to your payroll bureau microsite. This will be your unique microsite and we suggest you bookmark it for future use. Payroll helper Guide Your password You ll also receive a separate payroll helper that contains a temporary password to enable you to access your microsite. It also gives you a link to the implementation guide to start setting up your payroll bureau microsite. Click on the URL in the and use your login details and temporary password to access your microsite. Your microsite Once in the site you can manage your password and set up other users. Your microsite will be used for all of your clients who join the NOW: Pensions Master Trust and have asked you to administer the auto enrolment process. You will receive future notifications informing you of any new employers that have been added to your microsite. Seth For more information take a look at our online Help Centre: You may find this link to a recorded webinar helpful in the set up process: www2.nowpensions.com/ webinar-library-payrollbureaux Contact your regional partnership manager Registration and online client sign up for payroll bureaux 9

10 Smarter. Simpler. Better. Information correct as at January 2016 NOW: Pensions is a UK occupational pension plan. Membership is only available through an employer, following satisfactory checks on the employer. This is written as a general guide only. It should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice. PM /2 NOW: Pensions 3rd Floor 164 Bishopsgate London EC2M 4LX Tel: +44 (0) nowpensions.com