About automatic enrolment certification

What is certification?

The standard minimum contribution for automatic enrolment is based on qualifying earnings. This can be difficult for employers to administer. Certification allows employers to calculate contributions on an alternative basis and has been designed to cater for employers who have good quality money purchase schemes where either: 

• The scheme is liable to satisfy one of three minimum contribution sets outlined in the alternative quality requirements, or 
• The scheme doesn't necessarily satisfy the standard 'qualifying earnings' basis in all circumstances. However, you're satisfied that the contributions under the scheme will be as good as, or better than, the minimum contributions for all relevant jobholders. 

What are the alternative minimum contribution sets?  

Unless your scheme is making contributions using qualifying earnings your scheme is likely to have a minimum contribution based on one of the following sets: 

What are your certification duties?

To satisfy the certification part of your automatic enrolment duties you’ll need to: 

• Ensure the certificate is completed correctly and stored safely. 
• While your certificate is in force, it is good practice to make sure your scheme is meeting the minimum quality requirements, especially where circumstances change. 
• Provided that it was given on reasonable grounds, you won't need to reconcile any shortfalls in your scheme contributions that arise during the certification period. However, if at the end of the certification period, the minimum quality requirements have not been met, you'll be expected to make any necessary improvements going forward before renewing your certificate or certify using a different minimum contribution set. 
• Keep the certificate up to date. 

Who can sign a certificate? 

Only you, the employer, or someone you've authorised can sign your certificate. While you'll have your own authorisation process, examples of people you can authorise to sign your certificate include: 

• In a limited company, a director or officer of the company.
• In a partnership, a senior partner.
• For a sole trader, the business owner.
• For a public sector organisation, the chief executive.
• In a multi-employer scheme one employer may be able to certify on behalf of the other employers in relation to their respective jobholders, if that employer is authorised to give a certificate by the relevant employers. 

This isn’t an exhaustive list, for more information on certification you can visit the GOV.UK website (opens in a new window). 

Changing or ending your scheme's certification 

If, during this period, a significant change in circumstances occurs meaning the scheme can no longer satisfy the certification requirements, you should alter the expiry date of your certificate.

This should be so that your certificate expires on the day after the day on which the change takes place. 

It must also be before the last day of a period of 18 months starting from the effective date of your certificate. You can't retrospectively cancel a certificate. You'll need to change the expiry date of your certificate if there's a significant change in circumstances. 

Examples of significant changes could be: 

• Corporate transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and transfers under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Act (TUPE).
• Changes to the scheme's benefit structure.
• Changes to the contribution rate.
• Changes to pay and reward structure.
• The winding up of a scheme.