Getting to grips with auto enrolment pensions
Posted: 18th September, 2017
Staging dates; opt-in and opt-out employees; ongoing eligibility assessment; postponement; pension provider interfacing; contribution calculations and payment; compliance declarations. Automatic enrolment, or auto enrolment for short, is complicated.
But burying your head in the sand isn’t a viable option. Auto enrolment is mandatory pension reform which applies to every firm, big or small.
Don’t worry, though, if you’re struggling to get to grips with auto enrolment, we’re here to help. First, we’ll adopt a layman’s-terms approach to explain the principles and practice. Second, for those companies with little enough time as it is, never mind carrying the additional burden of auto enrolment, we offer our outsourced payroll service as a complete, stress-free solution.
To begin, here’s your no-nonsense, concise guide to auto enrolment…
The timings
Auto enrolment has staggered implementation, with firms assigned their own staging date between now and February 2018 (the latest dates are for new employers). If you don’t know your staging date, visit www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/staging-date.aspx.
Once you know your staging date, even if you already have a pension scheme, you may need to change it. If you don’t yet have a scheme, you’ll need to set one up. Quickly!
The requirements
Your preparatory tasks encompass everything from assessing your workforce’s joining eligibility right through to negotiating with pension providers. In a nutshell, auto enrolment is:-
- Pay and age dependent: £10,000+ gross earnings; aged between 22 and state pension age
- Supported by employer contributions: calculate yours at www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers
- Subject to opt-in and opt-out requests: non-eligible employees can still join and anyone can postpone enrolment or leave the scheme at any time, so regular enrolment and refunds will be commonplace
- An ongoing duty: those not eligible for auto enrolment this month may be next month; keep an eye on changes to ages and salaries which affect your workforce’s eligibility
- Enforced by a declaration of compliance: this acts as official confirmation that you’ve fulfilled your duties
- Maintained with detailed record keeping: evidencing all your auto enrolment activities and finances
Hopefully we’ve cleared the muddy waters but there’s no denying that auto enrolment is time intensive. If you’re short on time already, why not outsource your entire payroll and pension functions to an expert team such as the Quill Payroll division?
Which brings us to our final point…
The outsourcing alternative
Quill Payroll is an end-to-end payroll and pension service. By outsourcing to us, your designated clerk will manage not only all the usual payroll tasks such as processing your salaries, he / she will also look after pension contributions in accordance with auto enrolment legislation.
This includes checking for eligible joiners, performing complex contribution calculations, managing opted leavers, preparing statutory employee correspondence, uploading the pension contributions and pay data to the pension provider’s website with a clear audit trail maintained throughout.
For you, it’s one less distraction and one less worry, leaving you free to channel your energies into other important business areas which may otherwise suffer from neglect of your attention.
Read more and contact us for pricing.
Note: This article is advisory only. Consult a regulated professional financial advisor for specialist consultancy support.
