Workplace pension reform
Introduction to the reforms
Employers in the UK will have to cope with major reforms to workplace pensions that will be implemented from October 2012. The reforms will affect all employers, irrespective of their size or type of business. For the first time, employers will have to automatically enrol certain workers into a pension scheme that meets the quality criteria and pay a minimum level of contributions.
Wragge & Co's Combined Human Resources Solutions team offers a unique combination of pensions, employment and HR law. With the support of 70 dedicated employment and pensions experts, it is ideally placed to advise on the implications of these landmark changes in pensions law for public and private sector employers and pension schemes, including:
- the range of new duties that employers will have to comply with under the reforms
- how employers and pension schemes should implement the reforms in respect of existing and new pension provision
- the administration issues employers and pension schemes will need to consider.
The reforms are complex and present an array of issues for employers. Businesses need to consider how to administer new enrolment processes, how to pay for mandatory contributions and how to monitor their workforces to ensure compliance with the new employer duties.
Workplace pension reform has introduced a range of new terms and definitions into pensions and employment law, which are defined in the glossary.
For a go-to manual on the reforms, download Wragge & Co's comprehensive guide.
This guide is based on the Pensions Act 2011, which received royal assent on 3 November 2011 and is now law, and on a batch of amending regulations which were issued in February 2012. These regulations are not yet law and may be amended before they are approved by Parliament. It also incorporates commentary covering the Government's statements in November 2011 and January 2012 confirming changes to staging dates and phasing. The figures in this document are as announced by the Department for Work and Pensions in March 2012. They will be reassessed on an annual basis. We will update this guide as and when the legislation or guidance is amended.
