Over the last year NEST has seen indications that employers are assuming their incumbent provider will be able to meet their automatic enrolment requirements; this is not always the case. By starting conversations early, employers can ascertain whether they can use their existing provider or whether they need to start looking elsewhere.
2. Assess
There are 3 types of workers, eligible, entitled and non-eligible. By carrying out a worker assessment you can identify which category each of your workers belong to and your responsibility to them. This will make your job much easier when you need to automatically enrol your workforce.
3. Communicate
Communicate with staff clearly and early, have a communication plan and involve all relevant departments in your business. By using effective communication at the start, you can save time-consuming questions later. Charles Cotton, Rewards Adviser, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) comments: ‘Getting the communication right from the outset will help make the running of automatic enrolment much smoother. Our members have found that communications have greatly reduced the number of questions they receive from workers. What’s more, workers who hear about their new pension from their employer are much more likely to value this as part of their reward package.’
4. Examine systems
Assess systems (particularly payroll) to ensure they are ready and capable for your automatic enrolment needs.
Karen Thomson, the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) comments: 'Automatic enrolment has required investment in payroll processes and systems, whether in- house or outsourced. The payroll function is best placed to examine the age and earnings of a workforce and determine the number of workers to be automatically enrolled. In addition, payroll can establish the date that workers become 'eligible' for contributions, calculating those contributions and managing refunds to workers who've opted out’.
5. You may want to get help
Get advice if you need it. You may want guidance from experts and external advisors. NEST has carried out extensive research with employers and advisers to understand what this new market wants from a pension scheme, and we’ve incorporated these features into the design of NEST. What they are looking for is something that takes away the headaches of running a scheme: a scheme that is easy to set up and administer day to day; has low charges; with a sophisticated and suitable investment approach; and clear and straightforward communications for members and employers.
NEST also has a number of tools on its website for employers and advisers to use.
Laurence Baxter, Head of Policy & Research at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) comments: ‘Employers are not pension experts. Advisers can step into this space – many have developed professional expertise in the area of workplace pension schemes, assessing the products and support for employers. Particularly Chartered financial planners are ideally
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 459 of 519
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker