By April 2017 all UK employers will have auto enrolled their employees into a work place pension. The first question that most employers should ask now is “when will this affect me”?
Employers will receive a notification 12 months before their staging date and a reminder will be sent 3 months before the staging date. However it is currently estimated that preparing for auto enrolment may take 12 – 18 months, therefore it is advisable that employers make themselves aware of their staging dates as soon as possible. A table of staging dates can be found on the publications page - staging dates for auto enrolment.
There is a modified staging date (see table 2 on our publications page) for certain small employers who can choose to move their staging date back to a later date than the one determined at 1 April 2012 if, on that date, they:
- employed fewer than 50 staff, and
- had, or were part of, a PAYE scheme that has more than 50 people in it.
For smaller employers the staging date is dependent on the first characters of the PAYE employer reference number. If you are unsure of your employer reference number or would like clarification of your staging date please contact us.
This is the first instalment in a series of articles regarding auto enrolment as detailed on our Employer Action Plan.
