Pension auto-enrolment: What next?
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Every business should by now know their auto-enrolment staging date, with the majority of businesses having already reached this.
Data from The Pensions Regulator (TPR), released in its second quarter 2016 auto-enrolment report, said 262,000 micro employers were expected to stage between now and in 2017. It said levels of understanding among micro employers - fewer than four employees - is about 80%. This means that tens of thousands of businesses are leaving themselves vulnerable to fines.
What next?
You should by now have worked out what you need to do for each person you employ and have a pension scheme in place. Once your staging date has arrived, any staff that meet the criteria* to be auto-enrolled into a pension scheme will need to be told about their rights. This is a legal requirement. The Pensions Regulator have example letter templates available which will help with this.
If you are using postponement then you must also write to your staff to inform them that you are postponing automatic enrolment for them. Remember, postponement does not mean that you are changing your staging date but simply changing the day you assess your staff's age and earnings.
Once you have everything in place, you will have 5 months (from your staging date) to submit your declaration of compliance . This tells the Pensions Regulator how you have met your legal duties.
Failure to complete your declaration on time means you will not have complied with all of your duties which could result in fines.
* Employees under 22 or over state pension age and those earning less than £10,000 a year are not auto-enrolled.
Get the support you need
If you're looking for guidance on your auto-enrolment responsibilities, ActSmart can help.
ActSmart have made arrangements to introduce you to Elliott Sanders of Copthorne Hundred Wealth Management, a Partner Practice of St. James's Place Wealth Management.
St. James's Place Wealth Management are one of the leading wealth management organisations in the UK with a national network of advisers. Using their experience, they offer businesses and individuals a wealth management service, incorporating pension advice. The advice is face-to-face and tailored to your business or personal objectives.
- Complimentary initial consultation
- Face-to-face advice
- Impartial advice
- Advice is guaranteed by St. James's Place when recommending any products or services provided by the St. James's Place Group
Phone Elliott Sanders's team on , email Elliott.Sanders@sjpp.co.uk or complete the enquiry form here.