Guidelines for Succeeding in Pension Auto Enrolment
There were changes made on the Pensions Act thereby needing each company under auto-enrolment to offer a workplace pension scheme to its staffs. This changed how pensions were being offered with employers deciding conditions under which to offer pensions. It is thus the right of employees to be provided with pension schemes with an option to continue with or leave the scheme. As an employer, there are duties you should perform with pension automatic enrolment and failing make you pay penalties. Below are tips for successful pension auto-enrolment.
Make sure there is an effective communication with your staffs. It is crucial to ensure there is a clear communication with the staffs because this will save resources and time that would be spent to respond to unnecessary questions in the coming days. Communications should let the staffs know of processes put in place, any new company policy and deductions to be made from their salaries. It is thus important to have tools and templates to enable you to pass important information to your employees.
Review current pension provisions. It is possible that your company has already provided pension schemes to its employees and this makes it necessary to keep checking your up-to-date pension policy. First of all, it is good to be informed on how pension auto-enrolment legislation will affect the workforce already registered with another scheme. You should pay attention to if you have the minimum requirements. In addition, consider if your present pension provider has a good scheme for workers becoming eligible under the present rules.
Know the staging date for your company. If you have not taken note of your company’s staging date, make sure you know it to avoid penalties. The staging date is when the employer is obligated to start auto-enrolling his/her staffs into a suitable pension scheme. It is worth knowing that there are chances for you to take your staging date forward. You can also defer auto-enrolment slightly but there are actions you should take, hence the need of knowing what responsibilities you have.
You should go for the right pension scheme. Although there is a variety of pension schemes in the industry, some of them are not qualified. You should, therefore, be very attentive when examining them in order to distinguish those meeting the necessary criteria. It may also be necessary to check how much you will be charged for your scheme to be administered. Moreover, be attentive to the investment choices offered to your staffs; in case your company is keen on ethical values, go for a provider providing such schemes. Moreover, consider what support is given to employees and employers; having a point of contact is important when an issue arises.