Businesses who employ one or more staff need to have a pension scheme in place within a few years.
If your business was trading before 1st April 2012, you will have to set a pension scheme up for your staff and go through all of the procedures required before April 2017 at the latest.
If you began trading after that date, it will be February 2018 at the latest.
For many businesses, the date you have to do this by will be far sooner. The date you must have a scheme in place by is called the "staging date".
You can find this out from the Pensions Regulator website:
Pensions Regulator Staging Date Calculator
There is an awful lot of work to do before that date and many pension schemes will not allow you to start a scheme with them if your business is closer than 6 months to your "staging date".
There are many useful guides available on the Pension Regulator site, although they can be a little confusing:
Pensions Regulator Guidance for employers
Many people talk about "Nest" when mentioning auto enrolment, but this is just one choice of pension scheme amongst many and it may not be the best or most straightforward to use.
I have been looking at auto enrolment since it was first announced several years ago and hosted many seminars on the subject over that time. It is a daunting prospect, but most of the issues are straight forward enough with some guidance.
If you are unsure of what this means for you, how to go about it, or just want a general chat about auto enrolment, then give me a call at Bury Financial Advisers.
For more information on Bury Financial Advisers, visit their feature below.
