MDC Checklist

We’ve had the MDC checklists in place for almost a year and although we’ve seen a great improvement in the amount of data submitted and corrections completed, there are still checklists which are not being addressed.

If a checklist is produced for an establishment, it’s sent to the establishment’s own Employer Portal, whether the MDC data is submitted through a payroll provider or Multi Academy Trust (MAT). We’d like to remind you that the data in all checklists must be checked and addressed.

One of the main issues we see is when there’s a missing withdrawal indicator on the MDC submission that should be provided when a member leaves employment at that establishment. If a member leaves, even if this is to go and work in another establishment within the same local authority or an academy maintained by a MAT, we require a ‘W’ to be supplied at their leaving date. If this is not completed then the member is still listed to the same establishment with ‘missing service’.

To amend this you’ll need to send us an update line including a W indicator, making sure the last day of service at that establishment is the end date on the MDC file.

These appear on the checklist as:-

• Missing service – Last recorded day of service is DD/MM/YYYY
• Potential missing withdrawal indicator (non-local authority) at DD/MM/YYYY
• Potential missing withdrawal indicator (LA) at DD/MM/YYYY

If the member has opted out, but is still in employment at your establishment, they still need to be included on your MDC return. If you’ve omitted a member because they’ve opted out, please submit service lines to update the member’s service and salary information in your next MDC file.

It’s important that your data is as correct as possible so that a member’s service history is correct when we come to completing pensions calculations.

Completing your checklists will also help with your data cleanse as we move towards the start of Monthly Contributions Reconciliation (MCR).

Recent rise in 38a errors

We’ve recently seen a rise in the number of 38a errors we’re receiving when you submit your MDC data. This error occurs when an employer fails to add full-time salary to a line of service.

We’d like to remind you that when submitting MDC data, you’ll need to provide full-time salary in all cases, even if a member hasn’t completed any work during the period in question. This will then prevent 38a errors from occurring.