You can view/update the pension status (opt in/opt out etc.) of the workers in Bulk transaction -> Payroll -> Pension screen.
When you land on this screen, you can be able to see the worker list, pension status, and contributions against each worker. You can search for workers and find out their pension status using the filter option available on the screen.
These are the different options available for you:
1. Opt-In
2. Opt In (Manual Assessment)
3. Opt-Out
Opting a worker into a pension:
When you've paid the worker for the first time in the system, the worker will get assessed by the system, and they will have appropriate pension status. If the worker wants to opt into the pension scheme before the auto-enrolment (usually 12 weeks), you can do the same using the first option (OPT-IN).
To do this, you would have to click "Opt-in" under the Apply Action drop-down. When you choose "Opt-in", workers eligible for opt-in will be displayed below. Then choose the worker you want to opt in, and then select the opt-in date and click "Opt-In". You can select workers in bulk if you want to and do the same process.
After opting in, the worker's pension status will change to "OPTED-IN".
Opting a worker into pension early: (Manual assessment)
The system will automatically assess the worker's eligibility on their pension auto-enrolment after their first payment has been processed; however, you can now opt-in the worker into the pension earlier if you choose to. To do this, you will need to:
Select 'Opt-In (Manual Assessment)'.
Select a date you want to opt the worker in from (this will need to be prior to their first payroll if you want to opt them in before processing their pay).
Select a pension type (in order for you to opt a worker in early, you will need to do your own manual assessment of the worker and decide whether they are 'Eligible', 'Non-eligible' or 'Entitled'.
Once you have selected an 'Apply Action', the system will generate a list of workers which can be manually opted in. You will need to select the worker(s) you wish to opt in by ticking the box to the left of their name. All workers selected here will have the same opt-in date and pension type.
Note: If workers have a different opt-in date or pension type, you will need to do this process individually for each worker and amend the date/pension type accordingly.
Once you are happy with your selection, you can hit 'opt-in' and the workers will disappear from the below list as they have now been opted in ready for their next payroll.
Opting a worker out of pension:
Apply an “Apply Action" filter of “Opt Out” (this brings up all eligible people who can be opted out of their pension scheme)
Select the person/people you want to opt out of the pension by clicking the tick box next to their name
Fill out the “opt-out date” box with the date you wish the opt-out to take effect. This will apply to all people you have selected
Press the blue “opt-out” button
A slider will appear asking if you would like to refund the pension contributions these people have already made. You have 3 options:
Choose to refund all contributions - there is a specific button in the bottom left corner.
Choose to refund a portion of the deductions by adding the amounts in the EEs and ERs boxes highlighted below
Choose no refund by leaving the EE's Refund and ER's Refund boxes with a £0.00 value.
**Please make sure you are certain of the decision to pay out a refund, as this is the only option you will get to action the refund of the pension.**
Once you are happy with your refund amounts, click on the blue refund button.
When you run the next payroll with an invoice for these people, the refund will be processed. If they have no further hours to be paid, you will need to process payroll without an invoice to process the pension refund. This will display on their payslip as “pension refund”.
Auto Enrolled:
You can auto-enrol someone manually in the system before the actual auto-enrolment takes place (after 12 weeks of postponement) if the worker is already auto-enrolled in the pension scheme (you can do this only if the worker's pension status is either POSTPONED/OPTED OUT). To do this, you would have to click "Auto-Enrolled" under the Apply Action drop-down. When you choose "Auto-Enrolled", workers eligible for auto-enrolled will be displayed below. Then choose the worker you want to auto-enrol, and then select the enrolled date and click "Auto-Enrol". You can select workers in bulk if you want to and do the same process.
After auto-enrolling, the worker's pension status will change to "AUTO-ENROLLED".
The difference between opt-in and auto-enrolled is that pension letters won't be generated for OPTED-IN workers, but auto-enrolled workers will have the same.
Stop Contribution (NEST and OPTIONS only)
For NEST/OPTIONS pension auto-enrolment schemes, if a person chooses to temporarily stop their contributions, you will be notified by NEST/OPTIONS and can activate this in My Digital so that the system pauses deductions.
First, go to Bulk Transactions> Payroll>Pension
Once on the pensions screen, filter by stop contribution, bringing up all the eligible people in the scheme who could be updated to stop their contributions.
Once you have the filtered list, you can further refine your search using the grid headers to find the person you are looking for. Once you have found the person you need to update, select the checkbox next to their name and enter the date that the contributions will be stopped in the “stop contribution date” box. For example, if the person wanted to stop contributions for 1 month, the date would be 1 month in the future.
Once you’re happy with the details, click on the “stop contribution” button. You will then get a pop-up box asking you to confirm the action.
Removing a Stop Contribution date
If you need to remove a stop contribution date from a person, this can be done by going to People Hub > into the person record > employment > pension. Once on this screen, you can remove the stop contribution date by using the dustbin icon. This is shown in the below screenshot.
I hope this is useful for you to do various actions in My Digital for viewing/updating the pension status of workers. 🎉😊