Auto enrolment frequently asked questions

Taylor Patterson looks into the issues facing employers under the new auto enrolment proposals. Here, the company addresses three of the top questions asked by clients.

When do I have to introduce auto enrolment?

Each Employer will be given a ‘staging date’ by which time they must implement auto enrolment. This will depend on the number of employees you have. A pack will be sent to you from the pensions regulator around one year before your staging date. Currently, employers with over 90 employees should have received their packs.

What are my duties as an employer under auto enrolment?

In summary, some of the main duties are as follows: Make payments into a pension scheme based on the auto enrolment requirements Auto enrol all qualifying staff Monitor employee earnings Collect contributions and make payments to the scheme Register with the pensions regulator Provide scheme information to all employees Keep detailed recordsWhat pension schemes are available to meet the auto enrolment requirements?

If you have an existing pension scheme in place for your employees, this may be available to use but will need reviewing and adjustments may need to be made.

If you don’t have an existing scheme in place, you should speak to us about arranging a qualifying scheme. This could include an insurance based scheme or one of the alternative schemes set up to deal with auto enrolment, such as the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) or the People’s Pension. There are many options to consider so contact us for detailed advice in this area. The natural follow-on question after considering the above is the likely cost implications, both in terms of the cost of contribution to the scheme as well as the costs of obtaining advice and implementation for the scheme.