Pensions Act was amended and thus needs that every company under auto-enrolment should present a workplace pension scheme to their workforce. This changed how pensions were being offered with employers deciding conditions under which to offer pensions. Employees are thus entitled to be provided with a pension scheme and can decide to remain or leave the scheme. As an employer, you have duties to perform with pension automatic enrolment failure to which you are penalized. 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. Communication ought to be clear on new company policies, processes put in place as well as deductions to be made from the salaries of your staffs. You, therefore, need to have tools and templates that will ensure you effectively communicate with your staffs.
Review current pension provisions. There are chances that employees of your company are already provided with pension schemes hence the need to keep checking the prevailing pension policy. First of all, seek to know the effects auto-enrolment legislation is going to have on the workers who are already enlisted with other schemes. Check whether you meet the minimum requirements. Also check whether your current pension provider provides a good scheme for staffs becoming eligible under the current rules.
Ensure your company’s staging date is clear. 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 good to know that you can bring 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.
Ensure you select an appropriate pension scheme. There are numerous pension schemes in the market and not all are qualified. You should, therefore, pay a keener attention to them to know which ones meet the necessary criteria. It may also be necessary to check how much you will be charged for your scheme to be administered. Also, check the investment choices they provide your staffs with; if your company prioritizes ethical values, choose a provider investing in such schemes. Furthermore, look into what support is provided to staffs and employees because having a point of contact is of much importance when issues arise.