Government publishes revised timetable for pensions auto-enrolment
The Government has published a revised staging timetable for pensions auto-enrolment.
Starting from 1 October 2012, and depending on PAYE scheme size and reference, employers will have to enrol eligible employees automatically, and make mandatory employer contributions, into a qualifying workplace pension scheme or the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest). Employers will be given a date from which they must auto-enrol (known as their "staging date"), by the Pensions Regulator, if they are using a defined-contribution scheme or the Nest as their qualifying scheme. The Government previously published a staging timetable, which set out the dates by which employers must begin to auto-enrol.
On 25 January 2012, the Government published a revised automatic enrolment staging timetable. This follows its announcement on 28 November 2011 that it would revise the original timetable so that small businesses (ie those with fewer than 50 employees) would begin automatic enrolment in May 2015, instead of the previously intended timing of April 2014. Under the revised timetable, there will be no change to the staging dates of employers with 250 or more employees.
From their staging date, employers must auto-enrol eligible employees when they reach the income tax threshold but contributions will kick in only from the employee threshold for national insurance contributions. Employers will be able to operate a three-month postponement window for all employees (ie newly eligible existing employees and new employees), so that employees on short-term contracts do not need to be auto-enrolled, although they will be able to opt in voluntarily during the postponement period.
- New timetable clarifies automatic enrolment starting dates View the revised staging timetable on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) website.
- Workplace pension reforms toolkit The DWP has produced an online toolkit to help employers understand the changes to workplace pensions.
- Seven steps to prepare for automatic enrolment and Detailed guidance The Pensions Regulator has published information to help employers prepare for auto-enrolment.
Also
The Pensions section of the XpertHR employment law manual explains the law relating to pensions.
Podcast: Pension auto-enrolment We discuss the Government's pension auto-enrolment reforms and their practical implications for employers.
Plans still hazy for pension auto-enrolment We look at a number of surveys that examined employers' preparedness for auto-enrolment, the approach that they are likely to take and its potential impact.
