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