Timetable for introduction of pensions auto-enrolment finalised

The Employers' Duties (Implementation) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 have been laid before Parliament, finalising the timetable for the introduction of auto-enrolment for smaller employers. 

The Regulations set out that employers with fewer than 50 workers will not be subject to the duty to auto-enrol qualifying workers into a workplace pension scheme until June 2015 at the earliest. The Regulations also include provisions:

  • setting out that the increase in minimum employer contributions from 1% to 2% for defined contribution schemes will now occur from 1 October 2017 (previously from 1 October 2016); and
  • extending the transitional period for defined-benefit and hybrid schemes to 30 September 2017, to align it with the extension of the transitional period for defined contribution schemes. 

A consultation on the proposed changes ran from 23 March 2012 until 4 May 2012, and the government response was published on Friday 13 July 2012. 

Also

Pensions auto-enrolment: Prepare for pensions auto-enrolment XpertHR Liveflo guides employers through the practical and legal issues involved in preparing for their organisation's pensions auto-enrolment staging date. 

The XpertHR FAQs section provides answers to questions about pensions auto-enrolment, including:

The XpertHR quick reference section includes tables showing auto-enrolment staging dates