NUTSHELL GUIDE TO

WORKPLACE PENSIONS

The Pension Act 2008 introduced the concept of auto enrolment for workplace pensions. The scheme will be rolled out over a six year period from October 2012 and employers are required to make a pension scheme available to all “qualifying” employees who will be automatically enrolled into the scheme. The start date differs for employees of different sizes with the larger employers being enrolled first. By the end of October 2013 all employers with more than 500 employees will have to comply but those with between 50 and 500 employees will reach their staging dates between then and 1 April 2015. All others (including those without a PAYE scheme) will have staging dates before 1 April 2017. The Pensions Regulator will write to employers 18 months before their staging date advising them of what needs done but in summary employers will have to

1. Know the staging date from which they must comply

2. Register with The Pensions Regulator

3. Check that their pension scheme is “qualifying”

4. Check their pension scheme is suitable for auto enrolment

5. Establish as scheme where they don’t have one

6. Work out categories of employee and auto enrol the relevant category

7. Provide detailed information to every employee regarding their options

8. Process any “opt outs” or “opt ins” to the process

9. Keep detailed records of all information and transactions for a minimum of 6 years

See more on workplace pensions here