2019 No. 30

Pensions

The Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019

Made

Coming into operation

The Department for Communities F1 makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 14 and 15A(1) of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 F2.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has made an Order F3 under sections 14(2) and 15A(1) of the Pensions Act 2008 F4.

Accordingly the Department for Communities makes the following Order:

Annotations:
Amendments (Textual)
F2

2008 c. 13 (N.I.); section 14 was amended by section 9(1) of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012 (c. 3 (N.I.)); section 15A was inserted by section 10 of that Act

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

This Order may be cited as the Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order (Northern Ireland) 2019 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2019.

2

In this Order any reference to a numbered section is a reference to the section of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 bearing that number.

Increase of amounts2

In section 13(1) (qualifying earnings)—

a

in paragraph (a) F5 for “£6,032” substitute “ £6,136 ”;

b

in paragraph (b) F6 for “£46,350” substitute “ £50,000 ”.

Annotations:
Amendments (Textual)
F5

Paragraph (a) was amended by Article 2(a) of S.R. 2018 No. 52

F6

Paragraph (b) was amended by Article 2(b) of S.R. 2018 No. 52

Rounded figures3

For a pay reference period referred to in an entry in column 1 of the Table—

a

the amount of a jobholder's earnings which triggers the automatic enrolment or, as the case may be, the automatic re-enrolment of the jobholder pursuant to sections 3 and 5 respectively, is the rounded figure F7 in the corresponding entry in column 2 of the Table;

b

the lower amount of qualifying earnings (see section 13(1)(a)), is the rounded figure F8 in the corresponding entry in column 3 of the Table;

c

the upper amount of qualifying earnings (see section 13(1)(b)), is the rounded figure in the corresponding entry in column 4 of the Table.

Table

Column 1Pay reference period

Column 2Automatic enrolment and automatic re-enrolment earnings trigger: rounded figure

Column 3Lower amount of qualifying earnings: rounded figure

Column 4Upper amount of qualifying earnings: rounded figure

1 week

£192

£118

£962

2 weeks

£384

£236

£1,924

4 weeks

£768

£472

£3,847

1 month

£833

£512

£4,167

3 months

£2,499

£1,534

£12,500

6 months

£4,998

£3,068

£25,000

Annotations:
Amendments (Textual)
F7

See sections 3(6B), 5(7B) and 15A of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Sections 3(6B) and 5(7B) were inserted by section 6(2) and (4) of the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012 and deal with pay reference periods of less, or more, than 12 months. Section 15A provides for the specification of rounded figures in respect of specified pay reference periods

F8

See sections 13(2) and 15A of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Section 13(2) deals with pay reference periods of less, or more, than 12 months in connection with the amounts constituting the lower and upper amounts of the qualifying earnings band

Revocation4

The Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order (Northern Ireland) 2018 F9 is revoked.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 7th March 2019

Anne McCleary A senior officer of theDepartment for Communities

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which corresponds to an Order (S.I. 2019/374) made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions under sections 14(2) and 15A(1) of the Pensions Act 2008, substitutes the amounts of the automatic enrolment and re-enrolment qualifying earnings band and specifies rounded figures for certain pay reference periods.

For the purposes of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the Act”), a jobholder who earns qualifying earnings of a specified amount is automatically enrolled or, as the case may be, re-enrolled into a pension scheme (the revised figures which “trigger” automatic enrolment or re-enrolment can be found in Article 3 of this Order). Once in the scheme, the pension contributions of such a jobholder are calculated by reference to qualifying earnings.

Section 13 of the Act provides that a person's qualifying earnings are earnings of more than the amount specified in subsection (1)(a) of that section but not more than the amount specified in subsection (1)(b) of that section. Article 2 of this Order increases the amounts referred to in section 13(1)(a) and (b).

The amounts specified in sections 3(1)(c), 5(1)(c) and 13(1) of the Act are in relation to a pay reference period of 12 months. Sections 3(6B), 5(7B) and 13(2) of the Act provide respectively that where a pay reference period is less or more than 12 months, the amounts specified in sections 3(1)(c), 5(1)(c) and 13(1) apply as if they were proportionately less or more. Article 3 of this Order provides rounded figures in respect of specified pay reference periods other than 12 months for the purposes of sections 3(6B), 5(7B) and 13(2). Rounding caters for different types of worker and for pay periods other than 12 months used by employers and enables the pay reference period to be tailored to their specific circumstances.

Article 4 of this Order makes a revocation.