HB Accountants

July

Workplace Pension Reforms

All employers need to prepare for their new responsibilities and should be planning and budgeting at an early stage to prepare for the additional costs - both of any additional employer contributions and of the additional administrative costs of upgrading payroll systems, collecting and paying over contributions and keeping the required records.

 

Overview of the reforms

The work-based pension reforms will require auto-enrolment into pension schemes. Where there is no existing provision, employers will either need to set up a suitable ‘qualifying scheme' or contribute to NEST, the National Employment Savings Trust, a new trust-based occupational scheme set up by the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA). The responsibility for enrolling employees into NEST and collecting and paying over contributions to the scheme will fall on employers.

Employers already providing pension schemes will need to ensure they are 'qualifying schemes', which may require changes to their schemes and contributions arrangements.

What should employers be doing to prepare?

•        Find out your ‘staging date’
•        Choose a 'qualifying scheme(s)'
•        Consider whether you need to amend your existing pension scheme
•        Plan communication with your employees
•        Assess your workforce
•        Review your payroll system

Employers must register online with the Pensions Regulator within 4 months of their staging date to confirm they have fulfilled their obligations.

For more details on how you need to prepare for the changes, please contact us on 01992 444466 or at directors@hbaccountants.co.uk.

back to top