Should an Automatic Enrolment Pension Scheme with Minimum Government Contributions be called an Employee Benefit?
I have recently read HR articles discussing whether a pension scheme with government minimum pension contributions should really be called an Employee Benefit or is it just a company meeting its legal requirement? In my view, in today’s economic landscape where financial security during retirement is a growing concern, automatic enrolment pension schemes are the […]
Automatic Enrolment: the success and the future
Pension automatic enrolment is nearly 10 years old; do you think it has been a success? Do you think it’s time for the rules to change? These are questions I am quite often asked and, in my opinion, yes, pension automatic enrolment has been a success in making more people save for their retirement. Following […]
The Inspectors are Coming!
Since the beginning of Workplace Pension Reforms and Automatic Enrolment back in 2012, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) has had the ability to carry out inspections on employers to ensure that they are complying with their duties. Before Covid, inspections by TPR tended to focus on employers that were failing to make correct pension contributions for […]
Moving on up
It’s not unreasonable to say that Automatic Enrolment has been a success with findings from the 2018 Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) evaluation report on the topic showing: As at June 2018, rates of opt-out / stopping contributions into a pension after the opt-out period have remained consistent with levels before the contribution increase […]
New employers & Auto Enrolment
When becoming an employer for the first time there are lots of things to consider; do you need to register as an employer with HMRC , setting up payroll, getting liability insurance and arranging contracts of employment. The last thing on your mind I expect is complying with Auto Enrolment legal duties. So what is […]
The Pensions Regulator is ‘flexing its muscles’
Everyone involved in the running and management of a pension scheme – employers, advisers, trustees and administrators – should understand the compliance and enforcement interventions being undertaken by The Pension Regulator (TPR), as this will help prevent any penalties being imposed. TPR’s approach is based on trying to stop problems developing in the first place […]
DWP’s Auto Enrolment Review 2017
In December 2017, the DWP published their latest review document “Automatic Enrolment Review 2017: Maintaining the Momentum”. This considers the success of Auto-Enrolment (AE) to date, and what changes may be required to build on that success in future years. Government’s objectives are that it wants to continue to normalise pension saving among workers; help […]
Auto Enrolment Contribution Increases
Auto Enrolment minimum contributions must increase from the current minimum rates on 6 April 2018 and again on 6 April 2019. As such in order to remain a qualifying scheme, all automatic enrolment pension schemes with contribution rates below the new minimums must increase. The minimum employer contribution rates are just that. If an employer […]
Auto Enrolment Contribution Phasing Dates
The new regulations, that confirmed the change of dates from which the auto enrolment minimum contribution increases need to occur, have now been passed by Parliament. The minimum required contributions and effective dates are detailed below: Phasing dates Qualifying Earnings Basis Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Staging Date – 5th April 2018 2% (of which 1% employer) […]
Auto Re-Enrolment: The Basics
What is it? Automatic re-enrolment occurs every 3 years and repeats the duties you carried out on your Staging Date. You must ensure all your eligible staff who are not active members of a Qualifying Workplace Pension Scheme (QWPS) with at least the minimum levels of contributions are re-enrolled back into your scheme. What you […]
