What is Auto-Enrolment?
Auto-enrolment is a government initiative designed to help people save for retirement. Since 2012, all employers in the UK have been required to automatically enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme. This is a straightforward process where eligible employees are automatically
enrolled into a workplace pension, with both the employee and employer contributing a percentage of the employee’s salary.
Auto-enrolment aims to make saving for retirement easier and more accessible for everyone, ensuring that people save more for the future. As an employer, it’s your legal obligation to offer a pension scheme that meets the minimum requirements set out by the government.
Who is Eligible for Auto-Enrolment?
Not all employees are automatically eligible for auto-enrolment. However, as an employer, it’s important to know who qualifies. Employees will be automatically enrolled if they:
- Are aged between 22 and the state pension age.
- Earn at least £10,000 a year (as of the current year).
- Work in the UK.
Employees who are not automatically enrolled may still choose to join the pension scheme voluntarily. It’s important to keep track of eligibility to ensure that the correct employees are enrolled and the right contributions are being made.
Minimum Contributions
To comply with auto-enrolment regulations, both the employer and employee must contribute to the pension scheme. The government sets out the minimum contribution rates, which can vary over time. As of now, the contribution structure looks like this:
- Employer contribution: At least 3% of qualifying earnings.
- Employee contribution: At least 5% of qualifying earnings (this includes tax relief).
- Total minimum contribution: 8% of qualifying earnings (combining both employer and employee contributions).
These contributions help to build up the pension pot over time, ensuring your employees have enough savings for a comfortable retirement.
Kelly Gibbs
5 months ago
We were looking for a payroll provider that could grow alongside our business, and Stem Payroll has been a great fit.
With a team of 25 and expanding to 30+ by the end of the year, we needed a provider capable of handling multiple payslips each month with varying hours, pay rates, and locations. Stem Payroll has the expertise and systems to manage this efficiently and professionally, including accurate holiday calculations for staff with differing hours and entitlements.
We know they will streamline our payroll processes and, most importantly, give us valuable time back to focus on growing our business.
A big shout out to Holly for making the transition so seamless, her support has been excellent throughout.
Kelly Donson
8 months ago
I can’t recommend Holly at Stem Payroll highly enough! Everything about the process is so straightforward — the online portal makes it easy to find all the information and documents you need in one place. Holly’s customer service is exceptional — she’s always friendly, responsive, and goes above and beyond to help. It’s such a relief to have payroll handled so smoothly and professionally. A brilliant service from start to finish!
Aggie Aggie
10 months ago
Holly stepped into an extremely difficult payroll situation created by our previous accounting company and resolved everything in an impressively short time. She meticulously corrected all the errors left behind and restored order where there was complete chaos.
The level of professionalism, dedication, and attention to detail Holly brings to her work is truly outstanding. She is not only exceptionally knowledgeable, but also incredibly kind, responsive, and reliable. We genuinely cannot imagine working with anyone else.
Stem Payroll delivers an elite level of service, even in the most complex and high-pressure cases. We recommend Holly and Stem Payroll without hesitation to anyone who expects absolute professionalism, expertise, and peace of mind.
Robynne Bromley
11 months ago
STEM payroll are amazing. They’ve been a huge help! Being a small business just starting up I felt really overwhelmed with payroll and ensuring my team are paid correctly and all legislation etc was followed. Thank goodness for Holly at STEM because I’d be lost without her! She’s answered all my (sometimes silly) questions and clarified anything I was unsure about. Very contactable and always reply to emails efficiently. Highly recommend!
Cara-Jayne Portess
11 months ago
Our accountancy firm have outsourced our payroll services for a number of years now, and more recently did this locally using the services of Stem Payroll.
We have recently taken this service back in-house, but if you are an accountancy firm looking at your options to manage your payroll services, we would recommend getting in touch with Holly and having a chat to see how she can help.
Holly is professional, friendly and efficient and delivered a really good service for us, which is crucial as payroll is such an important part of your business and it’s really important that it is done right. If you are looking to outsource your payroll we would definitely recommend having a chat with Holly.
Olly Barley
12 months ago
We’ve been using Stem Payroll for several months now and the experience has been nothing short of exceptional. From the moment we transferred to Stem Payroll, they were incredibly responsive and made the process very quick and easy. Ensuring our payroll runs smoothly and on time, each week. What sets them apart from other Payroll businesses is their customer service. Nothing is ever an issue. Anytime we have a question or need support, we get a prompt, clear and friendly approach. Stem Payroll really do give a 10/10 service and I would recommend them to anybody looking for a Payroll business to take their stresses away.
Natalie Cresswell
12 months ago
Holly has been absolutely brilliant! The handover process when she took over our payroll was seamless and stress-free—something that’s incredibly important when it comes to payroll. Holly has been attentive, professional, and efficient, which has made the whole experience fantastic.
She took the time to ensure the portal was set up exactly as we needed, walked us through the system, and tailored the reports to suit our requirements—all with a smile and in a timely manner.
I would highly recommend Stem Payroll Services. No matter the size of your business, Holly truly feels like an extension of our team, and I look forward to continuing to work with her.
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