Last October, Pensions Minister Steve Webb confirmed that all employers would have to enrol their staff into a company pensions scheme. However the Association of Consulting Actuaries found in September that as few as 20% of small employers had even started to consider the impact to their business.
Many employers had put off doing anything in the run up to the commencement of auto-enrolment in 2012 in the, not unreasonable, opinion that it ‘would never happen’. Well, it is going to happen, so it’s Plan B time for employers.
The details, of course, will almost certainly change over the next few months and probably years as the reforms are implemented; that’s normal for major pension reforms. But one thing won’t change - thousands of employers who have never run and paid into pension schemes for their employees will have to do so very soon.
They will also become responsible for auto-enrolling their employees into their new pension schemes and by 2016 millions of employees will be in pension schemes that their employers will have to both fund and administer.
There is considerable scaremongering with some banks or advisers insisting you as an employer must do something now. Our team at HKFAS have been reviewing the various options available for our clients and to date we feel:
1. There is not a suitable solution that we feel works today.
2. There is lots of work going on in the background.
3. We expect to see something suitable in the near future. When we find a suitable solution we will contact you.
Until that time we would suggest that you don’t get drawn into the panic or set a scheme up that might do nothing more than increase your administrative burden and costs ……especially in these times !
To be kept up to date about these changes or for more information about this article contact Simon Willcox or one of the team on 01202 874202 or email an enquiry to enquiries@hkfas.co.uk
IMPORTANT NOTE
HKFAS is a separate entity from Humphries Kirk LLP and as such is governed by the rules of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and not the Solicitors Regulation Authority (previously the Law Society).
However, certain partners of Humphries Kirk are shareholders in and directors of HKFAS. The other shareholder is Ward Goodman Financial Services Ltd, a long-established part of the Ward Goodman Chartered Accountancy Group, which provides the independent financial advice referred to above.