1. 32
NORFOLKVOICE • THE MAGAZINE OFNORFOLK CHAMBER OFCOMMERCE AND INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL 2016
I am delighted to have
recently joined SG
Corporate Services and
to be working with an
established company
who have been advising
businesses across
Norfolk and Suffolk for
over 15 years.
I have joined at a very interesting
time as we approach the period
where the majority of small/
micro businesses will need to
set up a compliant workplace
pension scheme to meet their
auto enrolment responsibilities.
In addition, we are finding that
many employers are widening the
employee benefits they provide to
staff to improve staff retention and
employee satisfaction, for example
Death in Service and Group Private
Healthcare.
Here are a few lessons we have
learnt over the past two years from
working with other employers on
how to approach Auto Enrolment
and what you can do to make it a
worthwhile and simple addition to
your business - as opposed to it
being a nuisance.
Here is a list of Do’s and Don’ts to
help you meet your obligations as an
employer:
Do
n Communicate and raise
awareness of the upcoming
workplace pension with your
staff well in advance – posters
are available from The Pension
Regular’s website or messages
in their payslips can be effective.
n Speak to your payroll provider/
bookkeeper if your payroll is
outsourced and find out how they
are facilitating the assessments
and communications. You may
find that they may are not able
to provide anything, or they may
charge you an additional fee
each month
n Even if there are no staff to enrol,
employers still have legal duties,
one of which is completing a
declaration of compliance with
The Pension Regulator.
Don’t
n Leave it until the last minute
to act. The fines issued by The
Pension Regulator can be as
high, typically £400 followed by a
daily charge of anything between
£50 and £10,000.
n Think that you can implement
your scheme at the last minute.
Either you should take all
the necessary steps at least
6 months in advance of your
‘staging date’ or alternatively if
you do postpone action you must
be prepared to pay your adviser
more for the privilege. You do
have the ability to postpone your
staging date by up to 3 months
or bring it forward, providing
you have notified the Pension
Regulator, but this does not in
any way relieve you of your duty
to implement a scheme.
You should consider whether you
are going to provide the minimum
contribution you are responsible
for or offer a higher level of
contribution. It is worth noting
that you can pay different levels of
contributions for different staff. The
minimum contributions are currently
at 1% for employers, however this
will be increasing to 2% in April 2018
and 3% in April 2019.
Here at SG Corporate Services we
have created a service specifically for
our small and micro business clients
that is cost effective and provides a
complete service that will ensure you
have a compliant workplace pension
scheme in place by your staging date.
The service includes advising and
setting up the most suitable pension
scheme to liaising with your payroll
provider to ensure the assessment
and communication is completed
correctly.
T: 01603 760866
E:enquiries@sgcorporateservices.co.uk
www.sgcorporateservices.co.uk
AreyoureadyforAutoEnrolment?
#DontIgnoreIt.
Ryan Oates,
Corporate Services Manager
Here at SG Corporate Services, our aim is to give
every employer, no matter how small, access
to a professional, independent service that will
implement an Auto Enrolment solution on time.
For a free no obligation quote, please contact
our Corporate Services team.
AUTO ENROLMENT WE’LL HELP
GUIDE YOU IN SAFELY