Q: Me and my wife started a small enterprise earlier this year and by the nature of what we sell, our business is very much seasonal; Christmas is going to be our busiest time. So, we’ve been recruiting new employees on temporary contracts. But we were surprised when one of our first starters said we should be paying into a pension scheme for her, even on this short term basis. Is this right?
A: It is possible that your new seasonal or temporary staff might be eligible for automatic enrolment into a workplace pension. Even staff on variable hours and pay, and only working for a few days could be eligible. It depends on the details of their earnings and it’s down to you as the employer to investigate and check if they do qualify.
It’s certainly a serious matter because employers who fail to comply, ultimately, risk being fined.
The Pensions Regulator gives a useful indication of what’s required, stating the following: “You must assess your staff to work out who to put into a scheme based on their ages and how much they earn. If you employ family members they will need to be assessed too. Any staff that are aged between 22 to State Pension Age and earn over £192 a week, or £833 a month, must be put into a pension scheme which you must pay into.”
It’s also worth looking into ‘postponement’ for any staff working for you under three months. This “pauses the duty to assess those staff until the end of the three-month postponement period”, HMRC says.
For more help with this and any tax-related issues with your seasonal business, give our team a call.
