choosing; larger employers in particular might reasonably be expected to be in a position to go ‘the extra mile’ in this regard; To review the scheme on an ongoing basis; whilst there are no obvious UK precedents for legal action against employers who choose an underperforming pension scheme, US employers have paid out a total of over $350 million to settle claims relating to failures in retirement plans for workers; To consider the position of employees who are members of the scheme but are non-taxpayers; some pension schemes deliver tax relief through the ‘net pay arrangement’ (NPA) which does not deliver tax relief to non- taxpayers, in contrast to the ‘relief at source’ process which does; employers could be vulnerable to challenge by lower paid workers if they choose an NPA scheme without good reason, since the pension received by the lower paid worker in retirement is likely to be smaller as a result; To ensure that record-keeping is of a high-standard, not least given the large number of individuals who will build up ‘deferred’ pension pots as they change jobs repeatedly; individuals who have had no contact with a firm for many years may need information about their past pension arrangements, including help tracking down ‘lost’ pensions;
The joint policy paper from Eversheds Sutherland and Royal London can be viewed through the link below:
Automatic enrolment and the law - How far do employers’ duties extend?
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Business advisers continue to be crucial to the success of automatic enrolment 11 December 2017 TPR’s latest intermediary awareness and understanding tracker shows that the role of business advisers continues to be essential to the success of automatic enrolment. The research shows that many business advisers will continue to support their clients with their duties. As well as showing that the vast majority will continue to help their clients with their ongoing automatic enrolment duties, the tracker shows that most advisers expect to be helping new businesses that are taking on staff for the first time with their automatic enrolment duties.
However the research also shows advisers think competing priorities and employers being unaware of the consequences of non-compliance may pose some of the greatest challenges for start-ups.
Other key findings of the report include: More than half of accountants, payroll administrators and bookkeepers expect their clients to rely on them completely to fulfil their ongoing automatic enrolment duties (52%, 55% and 56% respectively). Around nine in ten of all intermediaries are very confident or fairly confident that their clients would be able to comply with their ongoing duties (between 89% and 94% for each intermediary type). Awareness of new employers having instant automatic enrolment duties has increased among all of the intermediary types since the autumn 2016 survey. It is highest among IFAs (91%), followed by accountants (73%), payroll administrators (69%) and bookkeepers (67%).
More information for employers and their advisers about ongoing duties and what those setting up a business need to do can be found on TPR’s website .
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Don’t earn an unwanted present this year 12 December 2017
Darren Ryder, The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) Director of Automatic Enrolment talks about the importance of employers keeping their eye on the ball when it comes to their employee’s pensions.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
Page 413 of 516
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