All small and micro businesses in the UK are to receive a written reminder about their auto-enrolment responsibilities.
From the end of January, more than 1.5 million businesses across the UK will start receiving letters from the Pensions Regulator confirming their staging date – the date when they need to be ready to meet their automatic enrolment duties.
The regulator already writes to employers 12 months ahead of their staging date as part of its countdown of communications to employers approaching automatic enrolment. The new letters will include a request that employers provide email contact details so that the regulator can more easily issue reminders and updates as their staging date approaches.
Charles Counsell, the regulator’s executive director of automatic enrolment, said on 21 January: “Automatic enrolment affects every employer in the UK and they need to take timely action to get ready. The roll-out of automatic enrolment has so far been a success and this letter will ensure that by the summer, all small and micros are clear about when their duties begin, enabling them to plan ahead.
“From the end of January, letters will be sent out on a gradual basis over a number of months, so employers should not worry if they don’t receive theirs straight away. In the meantime, all employers can look up their staging date on our website.”
More than five million eligible workers have already been automatically enrolled into qualifying workplace pension schemes by their employers under the initiative, which began in October 2012. By 2018, all employers will have been brought on board.
