Following the introduction and success of Monthly Data Collection (MDC), we’re introducing the next stage of simplifying and bringing greater accuracy to the data you submit.

MCR is an amalgamation of your existing Monthly Data Collection, Monthly Contributions Breakdown and Enrolment processes.

It’ll give both you and us greater assurance that the information submitted is correct and help to reduce the risk of any discrepancies between service and contributions.

How have we developed MCR?

We’ve taken a very different approach to MDC, as we wanted to engage with you from the start, and get your input to make sure it’s the best process it can be for you. Throughout the last 12 months, we held 16 individual workshops and three MCR specific focus groups (not including presentations at various Teachers’ Pensions Action Forum and Local Government Association events). The workshops have been pivotal in allowing us to plan a solution, which works for a cross section of employers and providers. Over 75% of member coverage was achieved through engagement with payroll and software providers. The workshops were held in May 2018, September 2018 and January/February 2019. 

Benefits of MCR

Along with the benefit of having to submit fewer files each month, there have been extra developments and improvements identified with MCR. They are:

• To utilise MCR to accurately record and reconcile service and contribution information in one submission
• Simplify the process for submitting concurrent service
• Simplify the process for recording automatic and contractual enrolment
• Simplify the process for removing service, when a member has been placed in the wrong arrangement or you have been notified late of a member leaving.

When does MCR start?

On-boarding to MCR will begin in January 2020, with a Pilot Group of approximately 150-300 individual employers.

Full on-boarding is scheduled to begin from April 2020 and will finish in September 2021. From October 2021, MCR will be the only method to provide contributions, service, salary, and enrolment information to us.

How do you submit MCR?

As with MDC, the MCR submission needs to be returned to us via the Employer Portal as a Comma Separated Value (.CSV) file.

There are two ways the file can be generated:

• Using the MCR template which will be downloadable from the Employer Portal; or
• Using direct data extract from your HR/Payroll systems in the expected format.

To guide you through the whole process there’ll be three guidance packs:

• User Guidance – an in-depth document for payroll providers, software providers and employers to develop an automated MCR solution or to collate the required information to use in the MCR template
• On-boarding  Guidance – which explains the on-boarding process for employers and providers and details as to what you’ll expect throughout the transition
• MCR Template Guide – which provides instruction to those employers who will be completing MCR manually, by using the MCR template directly.

Next steps

We’ll shortly be releasing the guidance documents and the MCR template to allow you or your payroll/software provider to develop a solution for MCR.

We’ll be putting together the pilot group ready for January 2020, and if you’d like to be considered for it, or have any other question relating to MCR please contact us (This link opens in a new window).