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Are you a HR or Finance professional, or small business owner, responsible for your company’s auto-enrolment (AE) pension scheme?
The Pensions Regulator issued 28,027 compliance notices in breach of AE regulations between July and December 2022.
Is your scheme compliant?
Here are the 5 key questions you should consider:
| Question | More info | Next steps |
| 1. Who’s being automatically enrolled? What records are you keeping? |
Can you prove that you’re automatically enrolling the correct people at the right time? | Test your process. Keep a record of your checks. |
| 2. Are you sure deductions are being made correctly on your chosen definition of pensionable earnings and contributions? |
Have you checked recently that your payroll is deducting the correct contributions in line with your chosen pensionable earnings and standard contribution basis? | Follow up with your payroll team or external provider to check what is being done. |
| 3. What’s your definition of pensionable pay? Do you need to certify your scheme? | If you aren’t using Qualifying Earnings as your definition of pensionable pay, what alternative basis are you using, and have you tested and certified this? | Review your current pension contribution basis and check whether or not you need a certificate in place. |
| 4. Do you document your auto-enrolment processes so that they can be followed if key people leave or are absent? |
Knowledge around your arrangements and processes needs to be shared internally so it can be accessed when needed. |
Create a central database or shared file area where details can be stored. Can someone who isn’t normally involved in these processes follow them easily? |
| 5. Who manages the updating and issuing of statutory communications, and within the correct timeframe? (e.g. postponement notices) |
Ultimately this is the employer’s responsibility but who manages this for you? If TPR asked you who issues/updates statutory comms, would you know the answer? |
Ensure responsibility is understood internally with all communication deadlines clearly documented and managed. |
From our extensive auto-enrolment work with clients, these are some of the most common mistakes we see.
Auto-enrolment is ultimately the employer’s responsibility – so even if you’re outsourcing some services, can you be confident your suppliers are doing it right?
We’d be delighted to help you ensure your AE scheme or processes are fit for purpose. For help with your arrangements, get in touch with our expert team.
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