How to update your payroll for workers' actions

Workers can use now:u to take actions about their pension savings. The actions they can take are:

opting out
stopping or re-starting payments in to their pension savings
starting, stopping or changing extra payments in to their pension savings.

You must update your payroll system with these actions before you run your next payroll, so your next pension data file includes the changes.

now:u will alert you to your workers’ actions in the following ways.

‘Changes from your workers’ email to your secure mailbox

When you run a payroll, you’ll get an email when workers linked to that payroll take any of the actions listed above. The email, headed ‘Changes from your workers’, will be sent to your secure mailbox. It’s generated at the end of the day and will include all actions from that day.

When you upload a pension data file

When you start uploading a pension data file for any of your payrolls, now:u will show recent actions workers linked to that payroll have taken. For each action you’ll see:

the worker’s details
the date they took the action, and
what it was – opting out, for example.

It will show actions carried out less than a month before the start date of the pay period you’re processing. You can filter it by date to show older actions, if you need to.

When you download a worker action file

As well as being able to see the worker actions on screen when you’re uploading a pension data file, you can download a worker action file. This is a CSV file showing all the worker actions. The table below shows the headings in the worker action file and explains what they are.

Item no	Header	Format	Explanation
1	ER code	0000	The four-character code we’ve given you to identify your workplace.
2	PAYROLL CODE	0000	Four-character payroll code to identify individual payrolls.
3	PAYROLLNO	Up to 25 characters	Your workers’ unique payroll number.
4	SURNAME	Up to 40 characters	Last or family name.
5	FORENAME 1	Up to 40 characters	First name.
6	NINO	AA000000A	National Insurance number.
7	OPT IN INDICATOR	I or blank	I= Opt in Appears when a worker asks to join your workplace.
8	OPT IN DATE	DD/MM/YYYY	The date a worker who has asked to join is enroled in your workplace pension.
9	OPT OUT INDICATOR	A, O or blank	A = Worker has asked to opt out within their one-month opt-out window. O = Worker wants to stop paying in more than one month after being enroled. See the table headed ‘Opt-out codes’ for more information.
10	OPT OUT DATE	DD/MM/YYYY	The date a worker opts out.
11	OO LAST DAY	DD/MM/YYYY	The last date a worker can opt out and get their contributions refunded. If the worker is given a two-week extension, this will be updated.
12	EE CONTRATE	0.00	Worker contribution rate.
13	ER CONTRATE	0.00	Workplace contribution rate.
14	AVC RATE	0.00	Rate of a worker’s extra contributions.
15	AVC RATE INDICATOR	I or blank	I = Extra contributions – appears when a worker asks to pay extra contributions.
16	TOTAL EERATE	0.00	Columns 12 and 14 added together. This is used when the worker’s extra contributions can’t be split out in the payroll system.
17	CATEGORY	See ‘auto enrolment categories’ table below	Assessment category.
18	POSTPONEMENT DATE	DD/MM/YYYY	Last date of postponement/deferral period.
19	AE DATE	DD/MM/YYYY	Date a worker is enrolled.

Auto enrolment categories

Remember, the codes are case-sensitive.

Code	Description
Eligible Jobholder	Aged between 22 and State Pension age. Earns at least £10,000 a year, £833 a month or £192 a week in one job.
Non-eligible Jobholder	Aged between 16 and 74. Is not an eligible jobholder but earns more than the lower limit for qualifying earnings (£6,240 a year, £520 a month or £120 a week in 2025-2026.
Entitled Worker	Aged between 16 and 74. Earns less than the lower limit for qualifying earnings (£6,240 a year, £520 a month or £120 a week in 2025-2026.
Worker	Under 16, or 75 or over.

Opt-out codes

Code	Description	Actions
A	Opted out This worker opted out within their opt-out window.	You must opt this worker out and update your payroll to show this has happened. You must not take any more contributions for this worker, and you must refund any contributions they’ve already paid.
O	Stopped paying in This worker stopped paying into the pension after their opt-out window closed.	You must update your payroll to show this worker is no longer paying in, and must not take any more contributions for this worker. But you don’t need to refund any contributions to them as they didn’t opt out within the opt-out window.