Compensation & Benefits: Update on proposed auto-enrolment pension reforms

January 3, 2010

“Pragmatic approach” welcomed as “major step forward”

Following the Department for Work and Pensions’ (“DWP”) consultation
exercise in September 2009, key changes have been made to the draft
regulations initially published.  The revised regulations relate to
employers duties set out in the Pensions Act 2008 and were laid before
Parliament on 12 January 2010.  The regulations will introduce a
requirement for all employers to automatically enrol workers and pay
contributions into their workers’ pension schemes.

The amendments have been made in accordance with the DWP’s stated
aim to establish a “minimum level of effective regulation without over
specifying process steps” and are set out below:

Auto-enrolment will begin as planned in October 2012 and will be
fully phased in by October 2017.

Commentary

New and smaller businesses will welcome the additional time allowed
before they are required to auto-enrol their employees into a pension
scheme.

However, employers operating defined contribution pension schemes
will be disappointed to note the withdrawal of the self-certification
rules.  The DWP has explained that it is currently seeking a long term
solution in conjunction with the pension industry but, unless a
replacement self-certification mechanism is proposed by the DWP,
employers with such schemes will be subjected to increased costs and
additional administrative burdens as a result of having to undertake a
full reconciliation of their records each year with the statutory
quality standard for these schemes.

Resources

The main regulations are set out below.  For details of the other
regulations, please visit:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/pensions-reform/latest-news

The
Pension (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations 2009: Government response to
the consultation

Consultation
paper on Workplace Pension Reform: Completing the Picture

The
Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment)
Regulations 2010

The
Employers’ Duties (Implementation) Regulations 2010

The
Employers’ Duties (Registration and Compliance) Regulations 2010

For
further information or to discuss the issues raised, please contact Guy
Abbiss (guy.abbiss@abbisscadres.com)
or Colina Greenway (colina.greenway@abbisscadres.com)
on +44 (0) 203 051 5711.

Category:

CELIA Alliance
CELIA Alliance members are identified here. Members of the CELIA Alliance are each independent law firms and do not practice law jointly with any other member of the CELIA Alliance. “CELIA Alliance” and “CELIA” are not trading names. For more information about the CELIA Alliance click here.

Disclaimer
Content is for general information purposes only. The information provided is not intended to be comprehensive and it does not constitute or contain legal or other advice. If you require assistance in relation to any issue please seek specific advice relevant to your particular circumstances. In particular, no responsibility shall be accepted by the authors or by Abbiss Cadres LLP for any losses occasioned by reliance on any content appearing on or accessible from this newsletter. For further legal information click here.

Copying
If you would like to copy or otherwise reproduce this article then you may do so provided that: (1) any such copy or reproduction is for your own personal use or if it is made available to any third party it is done so on a free of charge basis; and (2) the article is reproduced in full together with the contact details, disclaimer and any logos as they appear on each article.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *