Don’t be fooled into thinking Auto enrolment is too far away in the future to worry about yet.
The first thing an employer should do in preparation for the new employer duties is to find out when their staging date is likely to be. The staging date will be based on the size of your PAYE scheme on 1 April 2012 and if the number of persons in an employer’s PAYE scheme changes between 1 April 2012 and their staging date, the staging date will not be affected, even if the change is significant.
The second stage is Safeguarding Individuals. This is because regardless of the size of your PAYE scheme, the law on the new employer duties and safeguards will commence from July 2012, even if your staging date is months and years away. The safeguards are intended to protect individuals, meaning there are certain things the employer must not do, both before a person starts working for them and once that person is a member of a pension scheme with that employer.
The safeguards include:
- Stopping active membership of a qualifying scheme
- Unfair treatment of workers
- Inducements
- Prohibited recruitment conduct
- For more details go to www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk
