Table 1 shows the staging dates for employers with more than 250 persons in their PAYE scheme.
Table 2 shows the band of dates for employers with fewer than 250 persons in their PAYE scheme and for new employers who set up from April 2012. Individual staging dates for these employers will be published here when the DWP publishes its consultation.
Table 3 shows employers with staging dates listed in table 1 how to bring their staging date forward. Again, this will be updated when the DWP publishes its consultation.
To look up your staging date in table 1, you'll need to know the size of your PAYE scheme. If you have more than one PAYE scheme, your staging date will be determined by the largest.
The staging dates shown are indicative. Your staging date will be based on the number of people in your PAYE scheme on 1 April 2012. You should therefore check your staging date again after this date.
- Table 1: List of staging dates by PAYE scheme
- Table 2: Staging time bands for employers with fewer than 250 persons in their PAYE scheme
- Table 3: Bringing your staging date forward
Table 1: List of staging dates by PAYE scheme
| PAYE scheme size | Staging date |
|---|---|
| 120,000 or more | 1 October 2012 |
| 50,000-119,999 | 1 November 2012 |
| 30,000-49,999 | 1 January 2013 |
| 20,000-29,999 | 1 February 2013 |
| 10,000-19,999 | 1 March 2013 |
| 6,000-9,999 | 1 April 2013 |
| 4,100-5,999 | 1 May 2013 |
| 4,000-4,099 | 1 June 2013 |
| 3,000-3,999 | 1 July 2013 |
| 2,000-2,999 | 1 August 2013 |
| 1,250-1,999 | 1 September 2013 |
| 800-1,249 | 1 October 2013 |
| 500-799 | 1 November 2013 |
| 350-499 | 1 January 2014 |
| 250-349 | 1 February 2014 |
Table 2: Staging time bands for employers with fewer than 250 persons in their PAYE scheme
Note: Individual dates will be published when the DWP publishes its consultation.
| Employer by PAYE scheme size or other description | Staging date | |
|---|---|---|
| From (inclusive) | To (inclusive) | |
| 50 to 249 | 1 April 2014 | 1 April 2015 |
| Test tranche for fewer than 30 | 1 June 2015 | 30 June 2015 |
| 30 to 49 | 1 August 2015 | 1 October 2015 |
| Fewer than 30 | 1 January 2016 | 1 April 2017 |
| Employers without PAYE schemes | 1 April 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from April 2012 to March 2013 | 1 May 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from April 2013 to March 2014 | 1 July 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from April 2014 to March 2015 | 1 August 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from April 2015 to December 2015 | 1 October 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from January 2016 to September 2016 | 1 November 2017 | |
| New employers who set up from October 2016 to June 2017 | 1 January 2018 | |
| New employers who set up from July 2017 to September 2017 | 1 February 2018 | |
| New employers who set up from October 2017 onwards | Immediate duty | |
Table 3: Bringing your staging date forward
To allow some flexibility, you can bring your staging date forward. The date you choose must be selected from the list of available dates in the table below and must be earlier than the original staging date for your business (it cannot be later).
We will update this table with additional available dates for employers with fewer than 250 persons in their PAYE scheme when the DWP publishes its consultation.
| Available dates (the date an employer chooses must be earlier than their originally allocated staging date) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 2012 | 1 June 2013 | |
| 1 November 2012 | 1 July 2013 | |
| 1 December 2012 | 1 August 2013 | |
| 1 January 2013 | 1 September 2013 | |
| 1 February 2013 | 1 October 2013 | |
| 1 March 2013 | 1 November 2013 | |
| 1 April 2013 | 1 January 2014 | |
| 1 May 2013 | ||
Employers with a staging date of October or November 2012 may bring forward their staging date to July, August or September 2012 (note this is not illustrated in table 1).
Once you've chosen a new, earlier staging date, you must notify the regulator in writing, at least 1 calendar month before the date you have chosen. Your employer duties will start from the new staging date you've chosen.
To bring your date forward, you must already have contacted a pension scheme that you can use to fulfil your employer duties. For more information, see section 2 of our detailed guidance Getting ready.
Back to top