With the three-year automatic pension re-enrolment deadline looming in 2015, leading independent workplace pensions and employee benefits specialist, Johnson Fleming, has launched the first in a series of informational guides aimed at reducing risk and ensuring full compliance for employers entering the secondary market.
The first guide, ‘Changing your auto-enrolment support’, provides invaluable advice on arguably the biggest task facing large employers and HR professionals to date – reviewing and transitioning support options before significant legislation changes set to be enforced next year.
Iain Chadwick, Consultancy Director at Johnson Fleming, comments, “As we approach the two-year milestone of auto-enrolment, employers are increasingly realising that getting to the staging date was the easy part.
“With the total removal of commission from pension related products and services and the introduction of the pension charge cap, all coinciding with the three year re-enrolment window, many employers will need to review their support options to ensure they are not in contravention of the new rules.
“It is also an opportune moment for employers to take a retrospective look back over the decisions they made at the start of the auto-enrolment process, to ensure that their system is fit-for-purpose and that auto-enrolment has met their objectives.”
While much of the industry focuses upon the ongoing auto-enrolment staging, little support has been made available for those entering the secondary market, despite the complex and lengthy processes associated with re-enrolment and the ensuing changes to legislation.
Johnson Fleming’s guides to re-enrolment will arm employers with the information they need to review their existing support options, using the experience they have gained over the past two years, in order to determine what support they need to run their schemes day-to-day while remaining compliant.
As leaders in the field, Johnson Fleming’s expertise and customer-centric focus is setting a precedent for the industry. The firm is urging employers to think about their current support package and assess whether this is adequate for the day-to-day running of their pension scheme while working in accordance to the new regulations.
From legislation and data transference to audit history and integration, the challenges faced by employers and HR professionals when making the decision to move their auto-enrolment support function are significant and can leave them open to non-compliance action from The Pensions Regulator.
‘Changing your auto-enrolment support’ is the first informational guide in the Johnson Fleming series. Topics covered include transferring your data, data requirements and accessibility, format and fit, maintaining audit history, communicating the change and processes and integration.
For more information, or to download the free guide, please visit http://www.johnsonfleming.com/guide/reenrolment1
