Get your business ready

You should start getting your business ready 6-12 months before your staging date. We can help you get ready in time.

What is auto-enrolment?

Every business has to automatically enrol eligible workers into a qualifying pension scheme. If you don’t, you could have to pay substantial fines.

What is the deadline?

You need to get ready by your ‘staging date’. To find out when yours is, click on the link below.

Workplace Pensions Auto Enrolment for employers is coming – Are you ready?

We all know that the world of pensions is changing, with new freedoms available. However the longer-term significant change is that almost everyone employed will be automatically entered into a pension. This will hopefully mean that more people save money for their retirement and become less reliant upon the State.

In practice, auto-enrolment or workplace pensions is largely about project management and compliance with the rules, with all of the responsibility residing with the employer. Non-compliance will result in hefty fines and some employers have already been on the wrong end of this. The truth is that the ultimate selection, cost and performance of the pension used is very much a secondary issue when set againsts the establishment of a scheme and the ongoing supervision of compliance. If you think PAYE, you will be much closer to understanding what is actually involved. As a result as an employer, you will need involvement of your Accountant and perhaps a financial planner for some aspects of the task.

Solomons IFA can help you navigate the changes to pensions legislation, and remove the administration headache.

Auto Enrolment came into law as part of the pensions Act 2008

  • The largest employers had to comply in April 2012 with medium sized employers (50-249) having to comply by April 2015
  • All small employers need to comply by April 2015 and October 2017
  • New employers from October 2017 have to comply immediately
  • This law means that employers are obliged to Communicate with employees before their staging date and on an ongoing basis.
  1. Communicate with the Pension Regulator on an on-going basis.
  2. Register with the Pension Regulator.
  3. Enrol their workers and offer a pension scheme to everybody but also offer employees different things dependant on how they are categorised.

These 3 categories are:

  1. Entitled Workers (Have a right to join)
  2. Eligible Workers (Must be automatically enrolled)
  3. Non-eligible Workers (Have a right to opt in)
  • Ensure they have systems in place to comply with the ongoing compliance of Auto Enrolment.
  • Keep records for the Pension Regulator.
  • Keep up to date and fully informed of any changes in regulation which may have an impact on their business.
  • Must automatically enrol their workers into a workplace pension scheme if they are aged between 22 and the State
  • Pension age, earn more than £10,000 a year and work in the UK.
Employer Signup

So here are the questions you need the answers to:

When do employers need to comply?

• Employers will need to comply depending on their Staging Date which will depend in an employer’s PAYE reference.

• Employers should be checking when they need to comply using this tool provided by the pension’s regulator.

• Every employer who employs at least one member of staff will need to be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme.

• The main exemption is for companies who’s only employee is a sole director.

Every other employer needs to comply with the regulation.

• If an employer does not comply with employer duties they will be issued a notice.

• If an employer doesn’t comply penalties start with a £400 fine and leading up to £50 – £10,000 a day depending on the size of the employer.

In order for an employer to comply with their employer duties there are a number of tasks an employer needs to do. This includes the following:

  • Automatically enrolling staff
  • Communicate with employees on an ongoing basis
  • Communicate with the Pension Regulator on an ongoing basis
  • Register with the Pension Regulator
  • Choose a qualifying pension scheme
  • Keep fully informed and updated on any changes in regulation which may have an impact on their business
  • Ensure there are systems in place to comply with the ongoing compliance of Auto Enrolment

• An employer has 3 options on how to do this

1) Do it themselves – the lowest cost option but requires someone within the business to learn and understand the rules and ensure they are constantly aware of the changes in the rules.

2) Use a professional – a highly bespoke but a potentially highly expensive option for many SME and Micro businesses.

3) Use a support system like AE in a Box® – this empowers the employer by clarifying

the specific tasks they need to complete in order to comply and provides a range of tools to enable them to do the job.

Use the SolomonsIFA code Y0ZZZ6FHN5 at www.app.aeinabox.co.uk/employer/signup

At it’s heart this is a project management tool that will keep your pension requirements on track and compliant with the regulations. As well as being a source of information you’ll be prompted to provide the right information at the right time, and with all the relevant instructions.

This empowers you to comply with regulations yourself, without the need for expensive advice, and you’ll be kept abreast of the changing regulations as they will inevitably be a moving target.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Auto enrolment requires planning. Putting a plan in place needs the knowledge, expertise and resources which comes from understanding what needs to be done in a bunch of different scenarios with different companies.

AE in a Box® brings all this knowledge and expertise together in one place and lets youknow what tasks you need to do by which date, with relevant instructions and links for you to successfully perform each one.

EMPLOYER SUPPORT

Employers are actively seeking support to help comply with automatic enrolment. The larger firms can provide consultancy solutions however smaller firms still need a degree of support in order to comply. Support to SME and micro businesses can be delivered, however the support (and due to its low cost nature) needs to be ‘low touch’ and systemised if it’s going to be delivered appropriately.

AE in a Box® offers all the support employers need to comply with the new legislation and remain compliant going forward specific to their individual dates in a systemised manner. This includes Updates due to changes in legislation and the provision of regular, pertinent updates together with a clear plan on what needs to be done in order to comply once more.

EMPLOYEE SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Employers are keen to avoid being caught up in providing advice to their employees for fear of advising (or miss-advising) them or being accused of trying to persuade their employees to opt out. One of the greatest areas of need is not the needs of the employer, but of the employee.

While larger firms can potentially afford to support their employees by arranging face to face seminars, helplines and other forms of support, smaller firms are looking for more direct routes to support their workforce. AE in a Box® provides all the employee communications required, without any bias from the employer.

• AE in a Box® clarifies the obligations employers have and provides them with the tools designed to help them comply

• AE in a Box® provides support in a task led system designed for anyone, regardless of their experience level to comply with auto enrolment by following a streamlined process driven system.

• AE in a Box® builds a project plan to ensure that employers comply and reminds them of the tasks they need to complete.

• AE in a Box® supports employers by providing a frequently asked question knowledge base with an “ask the expert” service designed to answer any employer queries.

• AE in a Box® supports employers by answering many of the employees queries using a wide range of employee videos designed to help employers deal with pension and auto enrolment queries from staff.

Use the SolomonsIFA code Y0ZZZ6FHN5 at Employer Sign up

There is a one off payment of £79+VAT and an ongoing monthly fee of £29+VAT.

How do I sign up?

Use the SolomonsIFA code Y0ZZZ6FHN5 at http://app.aeinabox.co.uk/employer/signup/Y0ZZZ6FHN5

Employer Signup