The government wants to encourage all workers to save for their retirement. From 2012, all employers (starting with the largest employers) must enrol their eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme, if they are not already in one.
What is automatic enrolment and why do I have to do it?
Automatic enrolment means that, rather than having to actively choose to join a pension scheme, workers are put into by their employer as a matter of course. If they don’t want to be in the pension scheme, they must actively choose to opt out. Automatic enrolment encourages people to start saving for a pension.
Key points for all employers
- Automatic enrolment affects all employers with workers in the UK.
- You must enrol certain workers into a pension scheme.
- You must start doing this from your staging date (this is the date from which your business needs to be compliant), though there is an option to postpone automatic enrolment for up to three months.
- You must write to all your workers to tell them how they’ve been affected.
Pensions Auto Enrolment Business Guide
Our member-only Business Guide is here to help you plan for and implement the changes needed to satisfy the new requirements. It covers the nine key stages to being automatically enrolment compliant and also answers FAQ's such as "Will i have to automatically enrol my employees?", "How do I find out my staging date?" and "Who must be automatically- enrolled?" and much more.
Get your copy of the Pensions Auto Enrolment Business Guide here.
Who is the Pensions Regulator?
The Pensions Regulator is the UK regulator of work based pension schemes and has the statutory duty to maximise employer compliance with the automatic enrolment duties. It has the powers to take enforcement action, including imposing fines.
The Regulator recommends that the employers have made arrangements with both a pension provider and a software provider six months before they are due to stage (be automatic enrolment compliant).
Contact NFU CallFirst
NFU members can call NFU CallFirst on 0370 845 8458 for initial advice on automatic enrolment.
CallFirst will be able to explain the steps you need to be taking now in order to be compliant, including:
- How to find your staging date
- How you can identify your workers
- When you need to communicate with your workers.
CallFirst can also provide you with the NFU's automatic enrolment business guide 902 (click the business guide link, NFU log in details required). This service is not able to provide financial advice and cannot therefore advise you about suitable pension products.