If an employee's pension contribution in SelectPay seems incorrect, there are a few things you can check to ensure the calculation is accurate.
Check the multiple list
To ensure only the relevant pay elements are selected as pensionable, in case too many or too few pay elements are included. To check this, follow the steps below.
Click Payroll then click Pay Elements.
Open the pension pay element then click the Multiple tab.
To bring all pay elements to the top, double-click the Selected column heading.
If there are any incorrect or missing pay elements on the list, you need to update the pension multiple list.
If all pay elements are correct, move on to the next section.
Qualifying earnings settings
The pension pay element may be using the lower and upper earnings thresholds, meaning the pensionable income is lower than the employee's gross earnings, which reduces the pension contribution.
To check this, follow the steps below.
Click Employees then select the relevant employee.
Click Standard Pay then open the pension pay element.
Click Multiple then scroll to the bottom of the list.
From here, check whether the Exclude earnings above UEL and Exclude earnings below LEL are selected. If they are but shouldn't be, you need to clear these check boxes, or vice versa.
If the qualifying earnings settings are correct, move on to the next section.
Salary changes
If the employee has had a recent salary change, but the pension contribution doesn't reflect this, this could be due to the pay element settings. To check this, follow the steps below.
Click Employees then select the relevant employee.
Click Standard Pay then open the pension pay element.
Click the Multiple tab.
From here, check whether the Do Not Recalculate check box is selected. If it is but shouldn't be, you need to clear it then click Save and Close.
If the check box wasn't selected, move on to the next section.
Employer contribution is incorrect
If the employee contribution is correct, but the employer contribution is too high, this could be because the employee has multiple pension pay elements.
This can also cause the pension provider report to show a different value to the detailed pay run summary if the additional pay element isn't part of the pension provider scheme.
To check this, follow the steps below.
From the Run Payroll screen, select the relevant employee.
Click the Type column heading then click the first deduction pay element.
Check whether a Pension tab appears then, if it does, click into it.
Check whether there's a value under Employer Contributions.
Repeat this for each deduction pay element.
If employer contributions have been incorrectly deducted in a previous pay period, you need to enter a pension refund. Otherwise, you need to exclude the pay element that shouldn't be used for pension.
If you need to correct the contribution for the current pay period, you need to manually override the contribution.
📌Note: When SelectPay calculates the pension status, it only includes pay elements with Use for AE calculation selected.