Support for running your pension scheme
Now that you’ve applied for your workplace pension scheme, you might be asking yourself what comes next. Or, if you’ve already got your scheme up and running, you might have some questions about anything from enrolment to contributions. To help, we've put everything you need to run your scheme smoothly here in our pension training centre.
First, share some important documents with your employees
It's your responsibility to make sure all your employees have the information they need to understand how their pension is going work, and the benefits and risks involved.
Make sure you give them a copy of ‘Your company pension scheme - An essential guide for employees’ (PDF 452KB) before they join your scheme, so they can make an informed decision about it.
You also need to give your employees details of the scheme's default investment strategy - My Future Focus Lifestage Approach (PDF 222KB). If you've chosen a different default investment strategy, you can find more employee guides on our Fund Centre.
Introducing MyAvivaBusiness
MyAvivaBusiness is your online portal for managing your pension scheme. You can do a range of important tasks to run your scheme on MyAvivaBusiness, such as adding members, making monthly payments, updating salaries, and telling us about scheme leavers.
You can find a range of help and support within MyAvivaBusiness to guide you through these processes. More guidance can be found in the MyAvivaBusiness user guide (PDF 5.9MB), and you also have the option to get in touch for additional help and support.
Activating and using your account
When you first started your workplace pension scheme with us, you will have got an email about setting up your MyAvivaBusiness account.
On that email, click ‘Activate your account now’ and follow the steps on-screen. You’ll need to create a password and answer some security questions.
This link expires after 30 days of us sending the email, so if it’s been longer than that, you’ll need to contact us to reset your account.
Once set up, you will be able to log into MyAvivaBusiness using your Online Account Number (OAN) and password, and start managing your scheme there.
Working with payroll software
Some types of payroll systems can be ‘integrated’ with our pension scheme through MyAvivaBusiness. That means you can synchronise the software to automatically send us information, like which employees need to be auto enrolled and how much you want to contribute to their pension.
Whether you already have payroll software in place or not, we've put together some information on what to do next.
Scheme management without payroll integration
You may need to enter your payroll data directly into our system if you don’t use payroll software or it isn’t compatible. You can do this easily on MyAvivaBusiness by either entering data manually, or by uploading a data file.
A range of payroll software, like Sage and Accord, give you the option to export data files which you can upload into MyAvivaBusiness.
Adding members
You'll need to add members to your scheme from the month of their first pension contribution. If they want to, they can choose to opt out afterwards, but you still have to enrol and add them first.
There are a couple ways you can add members to your scheme on MyAvivaBusiness. You can choose to key their details directly into the system, or you can pre-populate an add member template (XLS 25KB) and upload this.
Making payments
You’ll need to tell us about the pension contributions you’re making every month. We also need to know if there are no contributions due. If, for example, the member is taking a payment break or has left your employment.
You can directly key the contribution details into MyAvivaBusiness or pre-populate a make payment template (XLS 40KB) and upload this. If you don't tell us the payment details for any active members, we'll show you a payment warning message.
Updating salaries and contributions
Every year on your scheme anniversary date, we update your members on how their plans are performing. To make sure these updates are as accurate as possible, let us know about any changes to members’ pensionable salaries or contribution percentages as they happen.
Like with adding members and making payments, you can key the updates in yourself or pre-populate a yearly update template (XLS 28KB) and upload this.
Your ongoing duties
From calculating contributions and keeping colleagues informed to keeping your records up to date, there's a lot that goes into running your scheme.
Your duties don't stop after you've set up your workplace pension scheme. As long as you have employees, you'll have a range of tasks to complete to keep your scheme up and running, and keep it compliant.
That's why we've put a summary of all your tasks into a timeline of what needs to happen when, from before your duties start date to after your scheme is live.
Within six weeks of your duties start date
Keep your employees informed
You need to keep your employees up to date and informed through certain regulatory communications, to make sure they know all about auto enrolment.
By your duties start date/ongoing
Stay compliant
There are a few key things you have to do to make sure your workplace pension scheme is compliant with auto enrolment legislation.
Your duties start date
Beginning your legal duties
On the day your first member of staff starts work, your legal duties for automatic enrolment begin. This is known as your duties start date.
By five months after your duties start date
Declare your compliance
After you’ve got everything set up, you need to complete a declaration of compliance form no later than five months after your duties start date.
Ongoing
Keep records
You need to keep accurate records of how you've met your legal duties.
Ongoing
Reassess your employees
You need to assess all employees not already auto enrolled each time you pay them.
At least every 18 months
Re-certify
If you’re calculating your pension contributions based on something other than qualifying earnings, you need to complete a certificate at least every 18 months.
Every three years
Automatic re-enrolment
You'll need to repeat some of your original duties around every three years
Learn more about auto enrolment
Introduced in 2012, auto enrolment is there to make sure all employees eligible for a workplace pension are enrolled in their employer's scheme without needing to do anything themselves. By law, every employer with one or more employees needs to follow this process and make contributions for members enrolled in the scheme.
Your auto enrolment tasks might seem complicated at first, especially if you’re new to running a workplace pension scheme. But we have a range of articles to guide you through all the steps, from auto enrolment through to contributions and your ongoing tasks.
Frequently asked questions
My employees said they don’t want to join, do I have to automatically enrol them?
Yes, all eligible employees must be auto enrolled into a pension scheme before they can opt out. Your employee will need to get in touch with us once they’ve received their membership pack to tell us they want to opt out. If we’ve already received a pension contribution before an employee opts out, we’ll refund it back to you.
What if someone earns enough to trigger enrolment one month but not the next?
Employees aged 22 to state pension age who earn £833 a month (or £192 a week) during a pay period are classed as eligible jobholders. You have to auto enrol them into your pension scheme and make contributions for them (unless you’re using postponement).
Once an employee is auto enrolled into the pension scheme, they’ll remain a member unless they cease active membership. If their earnings drop below the relevant minimum eligibility criteria in following months, they may not have to pay contributions, depending on the way you calculate them.
If an employee wants to stop making contributions, can they get a refund?
An employee can opt out of the scheme and stop making contributions at any time. If they’re within their one month opt-out window, any contributions they’ve paid will be refunded. They just need to follow the opting out process and you need to let us know not to expect any more payments.
However, if their opt-out window has passed, they’re not entitled to a refund of contributions already paid into the scheme.
Important information
Registering your scheme
You might need our details to set up your payroll and to register your pension scheme, or to declare your compliance for auto enrolment.
Registered address
Aviva Life and Pensions UK Limited
Aviva, Wellington Row, York, YO90 1WR
Your EPSR number: Your scheme number
Your PSR number: 10079060 (TKxxxxx schemes) or 10253645 (SPxxxxx schemes)
Scheme type: Group
Personal Pension (GPP)
Method of pension payment deduction: Relief at source (deduct after tax)
Scheme name: This will be your company name
Terms and conditions for
Support and contact details
From setting up to running your pension scheme, we’re here to support you through the entire process.
Help using MyAvivaBusiness for the first time 
If you’re having any trouble using MyAvivaBusiness, whether it’s getting set up or uploading your first files, get in touch on:
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Support after your scheme is set up 
If you’ve got any questions around billing or your ongoing administrative tasks, you can get in touch with us on:
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Any other questions 
If you have any general queries like how to update your address or changing a scheme contact, we can help. You can send us a message or give us a call on:
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
We may monitor or record calls. Calls to 0800 numbers from UK landlines and mobiles are free. Our opening hours may differ depending on which team you need to speak to.