You need to manage your pension contributions accurately and effectively to ensure your workplace pension remains compliant with pension regulations. When you upload a pension data file (generic input file) to our employer Gateway system it will:
- compare the data you’ve uploaded with data you’ve previously imported, and
- highlight any inconsistencies, errors or omissions in the new data.
If the system identifies any errors in your pension data file, you’ll need to cancel the upload
and resolve all the errors in your front-end systems – particularly your payroll software
– before re-producing the file.
Download the Gateway member matching guide.
How does member matching work?
When you upload a payroll file to Gateway it’ll check the data in your pension data file and
cross-reference this with the existing data in our database.
If the new payroll file matches employee data in our database – that is, all the key fields are the
same – the employee’s record will be accepted, and no queries will be raised.
If the system finds some of an employee’s data doesn’t match, it will raise a matching query and
you’ll need to confirm the reason why there’s a mismatch in the data.
The system will raise a matching query if any of the following fields have changed for an
existing contract.
- First name
- Surname
- Date of birth
- National Insurance number
- Start date
- Payroll number
- Pay code
What are the matching options?
When you’re resolving a matching query, you’ll see up to five options. The options available will depend on which of the key data fields has changed. The table below explains the options available, why they’re displayed and the outcome for this option.
| Option | Reason displayed | What you have to confirm | Outcome |
| Same person | A change has been identified in one of the key fields – for example surname, payroll number or date of birth. | Either the data is incorrect, or the data that’s already been loaded needs correcting. | Correction to the employee’s record in the Gateway database. |
| Upload error | Always available. | Incorrect employee data has been loaded. For example, the National Insurance number on the file belongs to a different employee. | The row of data in the file will be rejected. If the row needs to be imported you’ll need to cancel the upload, correct the data in your front-end systems including your payroll software, and re-upload the complete pension data file. |
| Replacement | The employee’s employment start date (STARTDATE in the pension data file) has changed. You need to confirm if this is a new period of employment. | Does the change in start date indicate a new period of employment? If ‘yes’, use the replacement option. | The existing contract will be closed. A new contract will be created, linked to the employee’s main record. We’ll issue statutory communications (such as enrolment notices) if we manage these for you. |
| New contract (Only for returning or existing employees with new periods of employment.) | There is a change in payroll number or pay code, usually because an employee has returned for a different period of employment. | Employees may have concurrent jobs, both of which need to be assessed to comply with pension legislation. The new contract option lets you set up multiple active records (contracts) for an employee at the same time. Each record will be individually assessed for auto enrolment. | The existing contract will remain active. The system will create a new contract linked to the employee’s main record. We’ll issue statutory communications (such as assessment or enrolment notices) if we manage these for you. |
| Different person | There are partial matches on most of the key data fields, but the National Insurance number and payroll number fields don’t match. | There’s no link between the employee in the pension data file and the record in the database. The contracts for the employees highlighted shouldn’t be linked. | The system will create a new employee record and auto enrolment contract that aren’t linked to the existing record in the database. We’ll issue statutory communications (such as assessment or enrolment notices) if we manage these for you. |