Pensions watchdog takes lead on auto-enrolment
A workplace pension is a savings plan that’s arranged by your employer to help you put money aside for later in life. Typically, employers will also contribute to the pension scheme for you. Employees also benefit as they will receive tax relief from the government.
Employees have the right to opt out of a workplace pension scheme after they have been enrolled. Employers must not encourage or force employees to opt out. Even if the employer is not successful, employers can expect to face a fine or even criminal proceedings.
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) confirms that it has received 114 allegations of employers trying to encourage employees to opt out of pension schemes.
Steve Webb, director of policy at Royal London, adds: “ While it was ‘worrying’ that some employees may have been pressured to opt out, 114 was a tiny amount compared to the total number of people who had been auto-enrolled and stayed in a pension scheme”.
A TPR spokesperson also commented saying that no evidence was found that there could be a “widespread” issue with employers coaxing employees to opt out of the scheme.
Membership of a workplace pension is an employment right that should not encouraged to give up by the employer. If you are not being given the pensions that are entitled to you or believe that your employer is committing an offence, contact The Pensions Regulator.
Confidence in future auto enrolment compliance
Written By Holly McHugh, BrightPay Payroll Software: Employers continued to be confident in their future compliance with automatic enrolment, though this confidence was weaker among January 2018 stagers.
92% of early stagers admitted that they felt very confident that their organisation would be fully compliant with the new legislation (that’s more than 9 out of 10 people) . That statistic was a little higher than Autumn 2016 at 88%.
Confidence levels dropped significantly among January 2018 stagers, with 69% saying that they felt very confident in their compliance. This was even lower than the 77% seen in Autumn 2016. Results showed that among micro employers staging in January 2018, confidence levels were at 65%. While among Smalls, confidence levels were at 85%. The majority of businesses staging in January 2018 are micros, meaning it is clear that this is driving the lower confidence levels of these later stagers.
These results are from the Spring 2017 research carried out by Jigsaw Research, an independent market research agency, on behalf of The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
Written By Holly McHugh, BrightPay Payroll Software. Exhibiting at Accountex Summit North on stand 34.
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