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<p>In 2010 the independent Making Automatic Enrolment Work (MAEW) review considered
the impact of automatic enrolment on small businesses. Following the recommendations
of the MAEW review, the Pensions Act 2011 introduced a package of measures to reduce
costs and make implementation easier for small employers. DWP’s impact assessments
continue to monitor the costs and benefits of automatic enrolment on small businesses.</p><p>DWP
is working hard to minimise the additional costs of automatic enrolment, particularly
for small employers. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) was established
by the Government specifically to ensure that smaller firms have access to high quality,
good value pension provision.</p><p>NEST continues to undertake service improvements,
including making it possible for small employers to set up and run NEST directly through
their payroll software. The Pensions Regulator is also undertaking research and testing
in order to enhance its tools and educational material, and to simplify the automatic
enrolment process for small employers.</p><p>The decision to defer the staging period
of small and micro firms from April 2014 to June 2015 brought significant easement
to small and micro employers, leading to lower contribution costs and lower administrative
costs. Additionally the contribution level is being phased in, in order to help employers
adjust to these costs. The minimum employer contribution is currently 1% and this
will rise to 3% when the auto-enrolment programme is fully rolled out over the next
few years.</p>
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