Auto enrolment has required employers to review and revise their recruitment processes and pension arrangements. Some have needed to provide a pension for the first time. Others have needed to adapt their scheme and/or to operate multiple pension arrangements to control costs.
Compliance is an ongoing necessity. Processes are needed to categorise staff and to identify changes in status. Specific information must be issued when needed and good record-keeping is vital. The Pensions Regulator actively enforces the auto enrolment requirements.
Our lawyers are experienced in advising employers in a range of sectors and providers on auto enrolment issues.
We understand that auto enrolment law can have a significant impact on employers and their businesses. By working closely with finance and HR departments, our comprehensive auto enrolment advice is able to identify tailored solutions and options in the context of the employer's existing employment contracts, pension arrangements and flexible benefit schemes.
Areas of focus
Our auto enrolment advice covers both common and more complex issues, including the following:
- Staging date, particularly after corporate activity or transfers.
- The complex issue of who is a "worker", particularly in the case of self-employed contractors, consultants and other tricky individuals.
- Changes to existing employment contracts, flexible benefit schemes and pension arrangements (including the relevant consultation, legal and procedural requirements).
- Options and processes for certifying a qualifying scheme.
- Provider terms (including scheme documentation) and employer agreements.
- The interrelation between auto enrolment law and the TUPE pension requirements.
- The implications of auto enrolment for individual pension promises and arrangements.
- Whether an option could be an unlawful inducement.
- The implications of auto enrolment for salary sacrifice.
- Regulatory action by the Pensions Regulator.