Opt out of a pension scheme in QuickBooks Online Core Payroll

After enrolling an employee into a pension scheme in QuickBooks, they will have the choice to opt out if they wish to do so. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of:

• Opting an employee out of a pension scheme
• Re-enrolment for employees

Note: For opting out of a pension in QuickBooks Online Standard Payroll, see this article.

Opting an employee out of a pension scheme

1. Go to Payroll, and then select Employees.
2. Select your employee.
3. Select Workplace pension, loan & other deductions.
4. Select the pencil icon.
5. Turn off Enrolled in pension.
   Note: If no refund is due, select Cease membership.
6. Select Opt out.
7. Enter the opt-out date.
8. Select Save.

The employee will receive a full refund for any pension contributions they’re entitled to. 

Re-enrolment for employees

Are any of your employees not currently enrolled in the pension scheme or have they ended their membership? It’s necessary to run an assessment every 3 years to determine if they need to be re-enrolled. This is known as cyclical re-enrolment.

QuickBooks can handle the entire process for you; however, just enter the date when you need to reassess your employees.

The assessment should occur 3 years after the ‘Staging date’ or ‘Duty start date’. You have the flexibility to choose a window of 3 months before or after that date. This period of 6 months is referred to as the re-enrolment window. For example, if the staging/duty start date is 1 October 2019, the re-enrolment window will be from 1 July 2022 to 31 December 2022.

1. Select the gear icon, and then Payroll settings.
2. Next to Workplace pension, select the pencil icon.
3. Select Re-enrolment date.
4. If you want to re-enrol your employees automatically, select Do you want to re-enrol your employees automatically.
5. Choose the re-enrolment date.
6. Select Save, and then Done.

We’ll send you a reminder 6 months before your duties start/staging date for the upcoming re-enrolment, provided you have saved the original staging date in your Payroll settings.

You can choose the re-enrolment date and include any employees who have opted out of the pension scheme within the past 12 months, if necessary.

Notes:

• QuickBooks assesses your employees and keeps tracks of dates for future payroll runs. Eligible employees will be automatically re-enrolled in the pension scheme while ineligible ones won’t be assessed again for the next re-enrolment window in three years (plus or minus 3 months).
• During re-enrolment, you cannot use postponement, but you can change employee contribution when running payroll. Employees have the right to opt-out or terminate their scheme membership after re-enrolment. 
• After running payroll, you must complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pension Regulator, or you could face fines and penalties.