Workplace pension for bar and floor staff: the £10,000 trigger, age 22 and the 8% minimum, worked by weekly hours

Most pubs and restaurants run on part-time staff, and a workplace pension is one of the first duties an owner trips over when a bar team grows. Who has to be enrolled depends on age and pay, not on a job title, so the sum differs from person to person on the same rota.

What GOV.UK says

The GOV.UK pages on workplace pensions set out these points:

• Your employer must enrol you automatically if you are classed as a worker, are aged between 22 and State Pension age, earn at least £10,000 a year and ordinarily work in the UK.
• Staff outside those criteria can usually still join if they ask, and the employer cannot refuse. The page gives no specific age or earnings limits for this.
• The employer does not have to contribute for someone earning £520 a month, £120 a week or £480 over 4 weeks, or less.
• The minimum total contribution is 8%, of which the employer pays at least 3% and the employee 5%. The page marks the 8% "from April 2019".
• Contributions are worked on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax, and earnings include wages, bonuses, commission, overtime and statutory pay such as sick pay.
• Enrolment can be delayed by up to 3 months, with written notice to the worker, who can still join in the meantime if they ask.
• The employer cannot encourage or force someone to opt out, or treat them unfairly for being in the scheme.

The sum by weekly hours

I assumed a rate of £12.00 an hour (an assumption for the sum, not a legal figure) over 52 weeks, for a worker aged 22 or over. The qualifying amount is yearly pay minus £6,240.

Check on the 17-hour row: £204 x 52 = £10,608; £10,608 - £6,240 = £4,368; 8% of £4,368 = £349.44; 3% = £131.04; 5% = £218.40; and £131.04 + £218.40 = £349.44. One hour a week is the difference between a worker who must be enrolled and one who need not be, at this rate.

Two things to know about this table. It treats pay as a flat yearly sum; real staff have uneven weeks, and I did not read how the pay-period rules treat that. And the 12-hour worker earns over £120 a week, so if they ask to join, the page says the employer share is due.

Where owners slip up

• Looking only at the rota hours. Tips paid through payroll, overtime and statutory sick pay can count towards earnings. How tips are treated is in our guide to national insurance on tips and service charge.
• Missing the 22nd birthday. A bar worker who starts at 21 can cross the age line during the year; add the date to the staff record.
• Casuals. A casual who works enough weeks can cross the earnings line. The contract side is in the guide to zero-hours bar staff.
• Leaving it out of the labour cost. Add the 3% to your wage bill; the rota cost calculator is the place to do it.
• Forgetting it at hire. Put it on the new starter checklist.

What I did not read

The GOV.UK pages do not name the current tax year for the £10,000 and £6,240 to £50,270 figures, so confirm they are still current before you rely on them. I did not read The Pensions Regulator's guidance, the Pensions Act 2008, the duties to re-enrol every three years, pay reference periods, how to choose a scheme or the fines for non-compliance.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join your pub or restaurant team and take the job of watching the payroll for the age and earnings lines: they flag a worker who has just crossed one, draft the written notice and the enrolment record, and a person approves each step.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Check the GOV.UK pages and your payroll provider or pension scheme.