New guidance to help employers implement auto-enrolment is being published today (Fri).

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is launching the first two leaflets in a new series, New rules for pension saving made simple, designed to equip employers with what they need to know to help their organisations implement auto-enrolment.

The first two leaflets in the series highlight:

• What auto-enrolment is and what employers will need to do;
• When organisations need to start enrolling staff into a pension;
• How to choose a pension scheme to automatically enrol staff into;
• How to enrol employees into a pension scheme; and
• How to manage the costs of auto-enrolment.

NAPF Chief Executive Joanne Segars said:

“Auto-enrolment is a once in a generation opportunity that will help millions save for old age. But it is a massive reform, which requires a lot of preparation by employers.

“Employers need to make important decisions on how to implement the new rules and what type of schemes they will use, including how they will set up the payroll.

“HR professionals are pivotal to ensuring successful implementation. These leaflets are designed with them in mind. They provide an easy-to-understand toolkit that sets out what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by.”

The New rules for pension saving made simple series is being sponsored by employee benefits provider JLT.

Duncan Howorth, CEO of JLT Benefits Solutions Ltd, said:

“Automatic Enrolment represents a significant change in the pension landscape. However, the underlying legislation is complex and JLT welcomes the opportunity of working with the NAPF to produce this series of leaflets for employers and scheme trustees which will address the practical challenges of Automatic Enrolment, as well as considering how to engage members in an automatic enrolment environment enabling the workplace to be an effective point to build retirement savings.”

From October 2012, employers will have to auto-enrol many of their staff into a pension scheme.

The DWP estimates that auto-enrolment is likely to bring between 5 and 8 million workers into pension saving