In addition to incorporating these changes to pensions law, the latest Test data companion now examines eleven fictitious scenarios. These all illustrate complex payroll scenarios that an employer may come across when trying to satisfy their new legal duties. The two new payroll scenarios covered in this edition include how to deal with: · Quarterly paid worker- includes how to handle a pay advance Scenario · How to handle a transfer from a weekly to monthly payroll This guide aims to help you to be confident that your software will help your clients meet their new employer duties under workplace pensions law. To download the new Test data companion for developers, follow this link to The Pension Regulator's website 28 March 2012 The Department for Work and Pensions is consulting over a revised timetable which will extend the implementation of automatic enrolment until February 2018. The timetable proposes that no employer with fewer than 50 employees will have a staging date before the next parliament in 2015. Employers with an existing staging date on or before 1 February 2014 will retain their original date. Medium employers with between 50 and 249 employees could face an earlier staging date of up to a month as their dates are reassigned between 1 April 2014 and 1 April 2015, though the DWP says most will have later dates than they had under the previous arrangements. The CIPP Policy Team will review the consultation document and, depending on the contents, may issue a survey to collect your views. 28 March 2012 The Department for Work and Pensions have confirmed that the Automatic Enrolment rates for the new tax year will be aligned with tax and NICs thresholds. In the government response ‘Automatic enrolment earnings thresholds review and revision’ , the majority of the responses favoured alignment with the PAYE threshold for the automatic enrolment trigger and alignment with the National Insurance contributions lower and upper limits for the qualifying earnings band. The response proposed the following which the government have accepted for the 2012/13 tax year: CONSULTATION TO DELAY AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT FOR SMALL EMPLOYERS AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT EARNINGS THRESHOLDS CONFIRMED
· £8,105 for the automatic enrolment earnings trigger; · £5,564 for the lower limit of the qualifying earnings band; · £42,475 for the upper limit of the qualifying earnings band.
Within the response it states that the government recognises the advantages of alignment with the tax and National Insurance contributions thresholds. However, a lock-in to any particular approach may not be suitable or sustainable in the event of any future developments in the structure of tax and National Insurance, changes in expected savings patterns or in economic circumstances, so it is important that flexibility to review the
thresholds and triggers for future years is retained. The Government must review the rates each tax year.
CIPP Policy News Journal
09/10/2012, Page 157 of 234
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