BLOGS
Have you already missed your staging date (or are you in danger of doing so)?
Information from leading pension providers, including NEST, is highlighting that a significant number of employers may have already missed their staging date.
NEST chief executive, Tim Jones, says “We are not seeing the significant step-up that we would have expected had all those due to stage in April gone through. We are doing hundreds of employers a week but not thousands. Some people look to have gone through their staging date without having put a scheme in place.”
Complying with automatic enrolment is compulsory for all employers and it is important not to underestimate the tasks involved and the time that this will take.
Morten Nilsson, chief executive of NOW: Pensions, has echoed this stating: "Auto-enrolment is looming large on the horizon for thousands of small and medium sized companies but many firms are taking a gamble by leaving it late to find a pension provider."
IRIS experience has showed the earlier companies prepare, the smoother the journey will be. Understanding the legislation, finding a suitable pension provider and ensuring you are able to comply with key tasks such as assessing employees and communicating through the different stages of the automatic enrolment process all take time and careful preparation. Even if you plan to defer there are still key actions that must be completed to ensure you don’t fall foul of The Pension Regulator’s automatic enrolment rules.
If you have already missed your staging date you should act quickly to avoid being named and shamed and risking a large fine.
Speak to an IRIS advisor today by calling 0344 815 5700 to see how we can help you.
IRIS has already assessed over 350,000 employees and offers automatic enrolment seminars, both online and at locations throughout the UK, to help you understand the legislation and the new IRIS AE Suite™ can simplify and automate your key automatic enrolment tasks