As an employer, you will be well aware of Workplace Pensions. If not then you can get more information here and we would strongly urge you to do so as you could be staring in the face of an immediate £400 fine.
In short it means that as a practice owner you have a legal obligation to provide, manage and contribute to a pension scheme for all eligible staff working within your practice.
With Workplace Pensions now well under way it’s important that you act now and start preparing – there’s a lot that can be put in place earlier. As part of your duty as an employer, taking some initial steps now will certainly help you along the way.
- Make sure you know your ‘Staging Date’ – this is the date on which auto enrolment goes live for your business. Check your date here.
- Determine which employees in your practice are eligible to join the scheme.
- Start to tell your staff as much as you can about auto enrolment.
- Make sure your systems/processes are in place, ready for when auto enrolment takes place.
- Get the right advice and explore your options. Many clients assume NEST is the obvious choice but be aware there is a 1.8% levy on all pension contributions and you will need to set up an in-house system to ensure you remain compliant and communicate with you team important updates.
- Benefit from cost savings by putting plans in place early.
Auto enrolment is a legal obligation and the Pension Regulator is quick to issue £400 wake-up call fines for non-compliance – this is before big daily fines of £500 or more.
Getting good advice is critical. Many practice owners have ended up short of time to enrol due to either attempting the DIY route or being under the impression their accountant or payroll provider was dealing with it.
