Business adviser guidance on automatic enrolment

15 September 2015

"More than 54,000 employers have now implemented automatic enrolment, but there are still around 1.8 million left to stage over the next three years."

"More than 5.3 million are now newly saving or saving more thanks to automatic enrolment. Eventually around 9 million will be enrolled into a workplace pension."

These are two key facts from the Pensions Regulator. With the volume of small and micro employers staging this year, the focus is on those who advise these employers to ensure they are receiving the information they need to comply with their duties.

Research by The Pensions Regulator has indicated that over half of micro employers (businesses with one to four members of staff) who are due to stage next year haven't started making plans for automatic enrolment yet.

Most of these employers have told the regulator that they will seek the help of business advisers. These employers are likely to be very late in their preparations when they first approach an adviser, so being proactive and contacting clients to find out when their duties start would be beneficial.

Declaration of Compliance

Employers need to complete a declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within five months of their staging date. They must submit information to the regulator about how they’ve complied with their employer duties by the statutory deadline. Those who do not could be fined. Click here for more information and a link to a Declaration of Compliance checklist.

No staff to enrol

Even if no staff are eligible for automatic enrolment, they can still ask to join a pension scheme. A scheme only needs to be put in place if and when a worker asks to join or their circumstances change and they become eligible for automatic enrolment. Employers still need to write to their staff to let them know about their options and complete a declaration of compliance. Click here to view the frequently asked questions section on the Regulator’s website, to find out what to do if there aren't any members of staff to be automatically enrolled.

For further details read the Regulator’s Automatic enrolment guide for business advisers. The guide includes links to tools and resources and is divided into useful steps from 12 months before staging right through to 3 years post staging where re-enrolment is required.