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<p>Automatic enrolment has been a great success, with over 9.8 million employees enrolled
and more than 1.3 million employers having met their duties to date.</p><p>The Department
and The Pensions Regulator remain committed to enabling small and micro employers
to comply with automatic enrolment by making the experience as straightforward as
possible for this group.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this work, the Regulator launched
an interactive step-by-step guide. This simplified guide to meeting automatic enrolment
duties is designed to meet the specific needs of employers who may not have pensions
experience, including those with just one or two staff. The guide includes an online
tool so that employers can easily find out what they will need to do to comply and
when. Using the online tool also means employers will receive tailored communications
relevant to their circumstances. The step-by-step guide to automatic enrolment can
be found on their website.</p><p> </p><p>Government has put in place a robust, proportionate
compliance framework. This is administered by The Pensions Regulator, and includes
detailed regulatory guidance about how to comply with the law. An employer is required
to select a qualifying pension scheme; enrol qualifying staff into that scheme, and
deduct any contributions payable under automatic enrolment.</p><p>Employers are also
required to pay those contributions across to their chosen pension provider by a set
deadline. Although the deadlines for contribution payments vary, depending on the
type of scheme being used, there is an overall legal deadline of the twenty-second
day of the following month; which aligns with the HMRC deadline for paying tax and
National Insurance.</p><p>Qualifying pension schemes for automatic enrolment are subject
to the same regulatory framework as all trust-based workplace pension schemes, also
overseen by The Pensions Regulator. The Regulator has published codes of practice
on its website setting out how trustees of defined contribution pension schemes and
managers of personal pension schemes should monitor the payment of contributions;
provide information to help members check their contributions; and report material
payment failures to the Regulator.</p>
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