Workplace pensions

Workplace pensions are not a nice to have, they are a compulsory legal requirement.

 

From 2012, employers were required to automatically enrol all eligible jobholders into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and to make minimum contributions into it.

 

Three parties are working together to implement these workplace pension reforms:

– The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for the policy and legislation

– The Pensions Regulator (tPR) will be responsible for ensuring employers’ compliance with their new duties

– The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) is a new public body specifically established under the Pensions Act 2007. PADA is designing and introducing the National Employment Savings Trust scheme.

 

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for the policy and legislation.  The plan is to stage in the employer duties over a period of time, starting with large employers, then medium and then small. The DWP have already published details of exactly when each employers staging date will be.  Just follow this link to find out when yours is.
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/what-is-my-staging-date.aspx?gclid=CPbxkZSE2LwCFYYBwwodvh0AHg

 

To make sure that you get a pension in place which matches your business needs, you need to plan at least 9-12 months ahead.  Don’t forget that the closer you leave it to the staging date, the less pension schemes may be available to you which could increase your costs.

 

You also need to know that you can suffer serious financial penalties for not having a pension in place at your staging date.  For instance, if you fail to comply with an escalating penalty notice to set up your workplace pension, it could cost you up to £10,000 as a daily rate, depending upon the number of employees you have.