Policy News Journal - 2015-16

 worker exceptions  worker information requirements  DB scheme quality requirements

The Regulator’s detailed guidance has been updated to reflect these changes.

The Regulator also provided a useful summary of the changes which can be accessed through this news link .

Automatic enrolment guide for business advisers 20 April 2015

The Pension Regulator has published a redesigned 12 step online guide to automatic enrolment for business advisers

The online guide has been created in response to feedback from advisers who told the Regulator that they wanted a simplified online process to help small business clients meet their automatic enrolment duties. The design was robustly tested with accountants, bookkeepers, independent financial advisers and payroll administrators.

The online guide is divided into useful steps, with links to a variety of tools and resources.

CIPP survey on the need for a basic automatic enrolment assessment tool 20 April 2015

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has launched a consultation on whether to provide a basic automatic enrolment assessment tool aimed at employers who use HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tool.

While using payroll software is not an automatic enrolment requirement, the regulator’s experience indicates that using appropriate payroll software helps employers to comply. However, this runs alongside research that indicates half of employers with fewer than nine staff would be unwilling to pay to upgrade their software for automatic enrolment. Employers who use BPT and advisers acting on their behalf have also demonstrated unwillingness to purchase or use free payroll software available in the market place. The regulator is now seeking views on whether a basic assessment tool is necessary, and also on the proposed functionality a new tool might include. Interestingly, although the tool is aimed at those who use BPT, it would also be available for other employers to use.

The CIPP has created a survey to collect your views on the proposed tool. The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete and will close on 14 May. Thank you very much for your help.

The Pensions Regulator issues first auto enrolment escalating penalties 5 May 2015

Four businesses have been issued with an Escalating Penalty Notice for failure to comply with an automatic enrolment statutory notice. This type of penalty can be up to £10,000 per day depending on the size of company.

The Pension Regulator’s latest automatic enrolment Compliance & enforcement quarterly bulletin shows that from 1 January to 31 March 2015, four companies were issued with an Escalating Penalty Notice (EPN). These notices are issued on a case by case basis and the regulator does take mitigating factors into account. Before an EPN is issued, employers are given a deadline by which time they must become compliant. The daily escalating penalty only takes effect if an employer remains non-compliant after the deadline has passed.

Some other key points from the bulletin include:

 High levels of employers have reached their declaration of compliance deadline, and met their duties without the need for The Pensions Regulator to use statutory powers.

CIPP Policy News Journal

25/04/2016, Page 315 of 453

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