Lexalytic

Auto enrolment was not a one-off. It comes back every three years.

Most small employers did it once, filed the declaration, and moved on. Re-enrolment is a standing duty on a three year cycle, and so is the re-declaration, which is due even when you have nobody to put back in. It is the duty small employers miss most often, because three years is long enough to forget it exists.

That and six other things with published deadlines, worked out from your dates rather than left as general advice. Nothing is uploaded.

An eighteen person business that staged in 2019 and re-enrolled once in 2022.
Your dates
Fill in what you know. Anything left blank is simply not worked out, rather than assumed.
Your staging date, or the day your first member of staff started if later. The Pensions Regulator has it on your declaration.
Leave blank if you have never done one.

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This applies published deadlines to the dates you enter. It does not decide whether a particular duty applies to your circumstances, and it is not advice. Thresholds and rates change, and some of these have exceptions that depend on facts a calculator cannot see, so the position for an unusual case is worth checking. The Pensions Regulator, ACAS and gov.uk all publish the underlying guidance free of charge, and your payroll provider will know your duties start date if you do not.

Questions

How often do I have to do pension re-enrolment?

Every three years. You choose a date inside a six month window running three months either side of the third anniversary of your duties start date, and you must put back into the scheme anyone who opted out more than twelve months before that date. Postponement cannot be used for re-enrolment. This is the duty small employers miss most often, because three years is long enough to forget it exists.

Do I need to re-declare if I had nobody to re-enrol?

Yes, and this catches people out. The re-declaration of compliance is a duty in its own right, due within five months of the third anniversary of your duties start date, whether or not anyone needed putting back in. Employers who correctly worked out they had nobody to re-enrol still get penalised for not saying so.

What happens if I miss the re-enrolment deadline?

The Pensions Regulator can issue a fixed penalty of four hundred pounds, followed by escalating daily penalties that start at fifty pounds a day for the smallest employers and rise with headcount. The penalty for the re-declaration is separate from the penalty for the re-enrolment itself.

When is a written statement of employment particulars due?

On or before the first day of work, for every employee and worker. It used to be within two months, which changed in April 2020, and a lot of template contracts and onboarding checklists still say the old rule. Where a worker brings another successful tribunal claim, the tribunal can award two or four weeks pay on top for a missing statement.

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