The Declaration of Compliance: All You Need to Know

8 September 2023

Auto enrolment is an essential requirement for businesses in the UK. All employers are legally required to set up a workplace pension, put qualifying employees in it and contribute to their pensions. 

As part of the process, your business must complete a declaration of compliance to show you are meeting your duties.  

In this guide, you’ll find out what the declaration of compliance is and how we can look after this legality when administering company pensions. 

WHAT IS THE DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE?

The declaration of compliance is a document that informs The Pensions Regulator (TPR) of the measures you have taken to adhere to the UK’s auto enrolment policy for workplace pensions. These responsibilities are: 

  • Confirming staging and re-staging dates. 
  • Maintaining your employee’s personal details. 
  • Recording when pension contributions are made. 
  • Monitoring any requests to join or leave your workplace pension scheme. 
  • Keeping track of your employee’s ages and earnings. 

The Pensions Regulator’s declaration of compliance form is mandatory for all employers on behalf of their employees and can be completed online. You must declare within five months of an employee’s start date, even if you haven’t needed to enrol them. If you don’t complete the declaration, you risk being fined. However, you can authorise someone to do this for you. Find out how we can help you with this and other payroll outsourcing services. 

WHAT INFORMATION IS NEEDED?

As an employer, your letter code and PAYE reference are needed to access the pension declaration of compliance online service.  

LETTER CODES

Your letter code is a unique 10-digit reference that always starts with a ‘1’. It can be found on any correspondence from TPR. If you can’t find it, you or someone declaring on your behalf can contact TPR and give them: 

  • The employer name. 
  • PAYE scheme reference(s).
  • Employer’s address. 
  • Contact details, including telephone number, email address and job role. 

PAYE REFERENCE

As an employer, your PAYE reference can be found on:  

  • the letter you received from TPR about automatic enrolment. 
  • the letter you received from HMRC when you first registered as an employer. 
  • your payroll software. 

THE DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST

If you have all the necessary information to complete the declaration of compliance, you can complete the form (or we can) for an employee in around 15 minutes. You don’t need to complete it all at once – you can save your progress and continue later. 

WHAT’S NEEDED:

  • Government Gateway ID, login, and password. 
  • Your employee’s contact information – name, address, phone number, and email address. 
  • PAYE scheme reference. 
  • Letter code from TPR. 
  • Your name and contact details.  
  • Pension scheme type. 
  • Your pension scheme reference. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE DEADLINE IS MISSED?

If you miss the deadline to complete a TPR declaration of compliance, the regulator must be informed as soon as possible. Non-compliance is not a good idea – it can result in repercussions such as penalty notices or in extreme cases, legal action.  

The declaration of compliance is one of the most important documents you need to complete for TPR. It proves you’re legally following the automatic enrolment workplace pension process.

If you’re considering outsourcing your payroll, and need an efficient, reliable, expert team for tasks like the declaration of compliance, get in touch with Fortus today on 0330 162 2753. 

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