July 2015 saw the launch of our Pension Auto Enrolment Administration Service. Half of our payroll clients attended our presentation to find out what their responsibilities are for auto enrolment and how it will affect their business. The fines which could be levied for not complying are hefty so all employers need to do something even if they are the only employee or director in the business.
We presented four low cost pension schemes which will be available to all employers - many schemes are not taking employers with less than 50 employees. We set out the steps employers need to follow and advised them of the timescales set out by The Pension Regulator for communications to be sent to employees. We talked them through which employees will be auto enrolled, who will be eligble to join and who can opt in and how this will affect the contributions the employer needs to make.
Finally, to a sense of relief from everyone attending, we told them how all they have to do is choose a pension scheme and authorise us to act on their behalf. Of course they will have to make the pension contributions to the pension provider but even that can be done by direct debit.
Many of our clients have now chosen their scheme and we are starting the Auto Enrolment process even though many of them do not reach their Staging Date until later next year. Once the scheme is in place it can remain dormant until needed.
