Think you have cracked auto enrolment? You may have chosen a pension scheme, enrolled the right people and notified The Pensions Regulator (TPR). What else can be left? Here are the top three things required to help you stay on track.
1. Re-enrolment and re-declaration
Every three years you must assess some of your staff again, even if they have previously opted out or reduced their contributions, as their situation may have changed. You may now need to auto enrol them. Importantly, you must also tell TPR that you have carried out your re-assessment or face penalties for non-compliance. Make sure you have read and followed TPR’s essential guide to re-enrolment and re-declaration.
2. Minimum contributions
TPR has recently published an auto enrolment survey of 800 employers. In early 2019, according to that survey, 25% of the smallest employers did not know that minimum contributions were due to increase; of those who did know, 45% did not know by how much and 62% did not know when.
Since 6 April 2019, the minimum level of contributions for staff who are auto-enrolled has been 8%, of which at least 3% must be met by the employer. If you did not know that, check that your pension scheme is compliant!
3. Ongoing duties
TPR’s survey also asked employers how confident they felt that they were fully compliant with the following ongoing duties (on a scale of “very” to “not at all”):
- record-keeping
- continuous monitoring of staff ages and earnings for eligibility to join the pension scheme
- writing to staff about enrolment in the pension scheme
- managing requests to join or leave the pension scheme, and
- paying correct contributions.
Overall, employers felt slightly less confident than in 2018. How confident are you? Check our quick guide for more information on auto enrolment, or contact us if you have any questions relating to compliance.
