Small employers will soon be receiving, if they haven't already, notification from The Pension Regulator that they need to carry out re-enrolment.
Auto-enrolment into a pension scheme began for many smaller employers within the last 3 years. Re-enrolment requires employers to put any employees who have previously opted out of the auto-enrolment pension scheme back into the scheme. The employer must deduct pension contributions from the employee in the first pay period after that re-enrolment date, even if they have previously opted out, and they must must communicate with the employee within 6 weeks of the re-enrolment date.
The only exception to this is employees who have opted out within the last 12 months. These employees do not need to be auto-enrolled again.
The re-enrolment date is 3 years from your original Staging Date but you have a period of 6 months to complete this re-enrolment. You can complete it up to 3 months before your original Staging Date or up to 3 months after. You will need to complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pension Regulator. It is a legal duty for every employer who has a pension scheme and you could be fined if you do not do this by the due date.
Re-enrolment occurs every 3 years and your second re-enrolment date will be 3 years after your first one so it makes sense to choose a date close to the anniversary of your original Staging Date rather than a date 3 months earlier.
The re-enrolment declaration is a confirmation that you have re-assessed all your employees and re-enrolled those that have previously opted out and who are eligible for auto-enrolment. Employees who are re-enrolled because they are eligible to be part of the scheme can choose to opt out again.
We provide an auto-enrolment administration service for employers and deal with communication and re-enrolment duties on their behalf so that deadlines aren't missed. If you need help with your re-declaration of compliance or you are a new employer who needs to set up an auto-enrolment pension scheme please contact us and see how we can help you.
As a reminder pension contributions are 3% for employers and 5% for employees with effect from 1 April 2019.
