Auto Enrolment

The law on workplace pensions has changed. Under new rules which have been phased in from October 2012, all employers are legally required to automatically enrol eligible staff into a pension scheme and pay a minimum contribution into the fund.

Staging Date Each employer has a staging date, this is dependant on the employer’s PAYE reference and the number of employees in the scheme. You can find out your staging date by entering your PAYE reference into the following link: www.tpr.gov.uk/staging-date There are certain exceptions where the above tool will not provide your staging date. See link below: https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers

Provide a point of contact The Pension Regulator (TPR) requires you to nominate someone who will be responsible for automatic enrolment in your business. You can specify:

• A primary contact, who must be the most senior person in the organisation, for example CEO or managing director. This person receives all the letters from TPR and also emails if no secondary contact is provided.

• A secondary contact, who will manage or implement automatic enrolment. This person receives emails from TPR to help with implementation. To nominate your contacts visit: www.tpr.gov.uk/nominate-contact

Who to enrol All staff must be assessed for eligibility but you may not have to automatically enrol all of them. The table below outlines your duties depending on the salary and age of your staff member:

You can find out more about assessing your staff by visiting the link below: www.tpr.gov.uk/evaluate

Check staff records It is essential that your staff and payroll records are correct and easily accessible before your staging date.

The information required includes:

• Date of birth
• National Insurance Number
• Latest contact details

Choose a pension scheme

If you have an existing pension scheme for your workforce you should check with your provider to see if it can be used for auto enrolment. If you need to open a new scheme make sure you approach a company in good time and don’t leave it too late.

TPR website has information to help you choose a pension scheme: www.tpr.gov.uk/scheme

Postponement

You can postpone automatic enrolment for up to three months from certain dates. You can only postpone from:

• Your staging date

• A staff members first day of employment

• The date a staff member first becomes eligible for automatic enrolment.

If you postpone from your staging date, it doesn’t change your staging date. Postponement suspends the duty of assessment and automatic enrolment and can be from 1 day up to a maximum of 3 months. It can vary by individual. Staff whose automatic enrolment you’ve postponed can still choose to opt in to your pension scheme during the postponement period.

Click here to download our Autoenrolment Factsheet