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How to get your company’s Auto Enrolment right - and avoid £10k per-day fines

Did you know you could be liable for a fine of up to £10,000 per day for failing to get your company’s Pension Auto Enrolment correct - and on time?

The law on workplace pensions has changed and all UK employers are now required to automatically enrol their employees into a workplace pension.

This is a mandatory, legal requirement for ALL employers. This new legislation started to phase in for the largest employers from 1st October 2012 and the roll out is planned to continue with medium sized business, then finally small and micro businesses over a period of 5 years. That means by 2017 UK employers will be providing pensions to all or some of their workforce.

Getting your Pension Auto Enrolment correct is absolutely crucial, and the key to success is planning. Employers are notified of their staging date (the date pension schemes need to become active) 18 months preceding, by The Pensions Regulator, which should give plenty of time to find out what this new legislation means for your business. Do not underestimate what is involved in getting this right - it is essential that you understand what is required from your business as soon as possible so you can start to prepare.

The Pensions Regulator has provided a website that provides all the information you require to check your staging date and start making the necessary preparations, as well as templates for the communications you are required to provide to your personnel.

Solutions For Accounting are Sage’s top Pension Auto Enrolment Business Partner and if you haven’t already started the Auto Enrolment process, we recommend you start asking these questions NOW!

• When is your staging date?
• Do your current pension schemes (if you have them) meet Auto Enrolment criteria?
• Which of your employees are entitled to a company pension?
• What information do you have to communicate and to whom?
• What information do you have to provide to the Pensions Regulator and when?
• Does your current payroll process and/or software support Pension Auto Enrolment?

Once a company reaches its staging date and starts processing regular pension payments, employers will have ongoing responsibilities every payroll period to check if any employees now meet criteria to be auto enrolled; if any employees are opting in or out of auto enrolment and any new communications that you as an employer need to provide. Again, understanding what affect this will have on your current business processes and making the necessary plans to manage these additional requirements is essential.

At Solutions for Accounting, we are aware of the concerns employers have about the potential impact Auto Enrolment will have on their business and in response to this have been hosting a series of Pension Auto Enrolment seminars.

Following several hugely successful seminars in both their Nottingham and Newcastle offices and due to the significant number of companies being phased in over the next 24 months, we plan to make these events a quarterly occurrence.

For more information or to book yourself onto a upcoming seminar click here

http://www.solutionsforaccounting.co.uk/events/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Solutions For Accounting Ltd .