Produced by Jon Laugharne of ePayMe
There are a few important changes to HMRC regulations that you will need to know about, one of them is Pension Auto Enrolment.
Auto Enrolment is a new government regulation about pensions.
Last October saw the first staging date of the Government’s Auto-Enrolment (AE) Pension Scheme, which requires employers to provide all eligible workers with a pension. Starting with the largest companies in the country, staging dates have been laid out by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that will see companies of all sizes required to comply with the new regulation by 2017.
With this you would have thought businesses would spring into action and begin the lengthy process of ensuring all employees are correctly enrolled.
Yet, potentially due to the complexity of Auto-Enrolment, many have instead buried their heads in the sand, waiting for other businesses to ‘go first’ and provide everyone else with an example of how to tackle the Auto-Enrolment issue.’
As yet has anyone found a simple solution for the rest to follow?
Internal battles
These battles are also taking place internally at businesses; with HR saying it’s a payroll issue, payroll pointing the finger saying it’s a finance problem, then finance passing any questions or queries to an external pension provider – all waiting for the other to grab the bull by the horns and delve into implementing a new system.
However, there is only so long each department or business, pending size can pass the buck as staging dates are upon us. Businesses who have enrolled their employees have had to spend an enormous amount of time manually ensuring they comply or have opted for a basic automated system which requires hours of lengthy input.
The process of enrolment is a complicated one, involving both internal and external teams. Rather than becoming overwhelmed by the whole situation there are a few steps which should break Auto-Enrolment into a simpler process:
Accounting – Auto-Enrolment is going to add a considerable cost to most organisations – not just from the additional contributions but hidden costs like new systems and additional admin time. Make sure that a budget is discussed and shared with the finance team.
Is there internal politics going on in your business – with Finance, HR, payroll, operations and board members waiting for each other to make the first move? If so, is it all about Auto Enrolment?
Communication – Employees will need to be kept updated on the rollout of a new system – any changes require a minimum 60 day consultation process – ensuring they understand the implications of the new scheme will have a big impact on the overall success of the enrolment process.
Knowledge – With so many departments involved in the implementation of Auto-Enrolment it is vital that knowledge and data can be shared between departments. Make sure teams are happy to collaborate and work across departments to get the job done.
Automation – Manually implementing and managing a new system is a lengthy process, the emergence of new solutions which can help to automate the process are a great investment to help seamlessly manage the process.
Preparation – Is the key and with staging dates having been set last year, businesses have an idea on the time they have left to comply.
If you would like further information call you can call ePayme on 0800 622 6119
