Automatic enrolment: More than two million are in!
Ref: PN13-49
Monday 16 December 2013
More than two million workers have begun saving into a workplace pensions scheme as a result of automatic enrolment, according to figures released today by The Pensions Regulator.
Automatic enrolment began in October 2012 and is rolling out from the largest to the smallest employers across the UK. All employers, including charities and the public sector, will eventually need to assess their workforce and automatically enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme.
This month’s automatic enrolment registration report shows that more than 3,500 employers have now joined the workplace pensions revolution and submitted an online declaration of compliance by completing registration with The Pensions Regulator.
View the automatic enrolment monthly registration report in research and analysis.
Hundreds of staff at the charity the British Heart Foundation have been automatically enrolled, helping push the figure past the two million landmark.
Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:
“It is great news that automatic enrolment is beginning to make a positive difference to the retirement prospects of workers. The changes to workplace pensions being introduced now are set to help millions more people to achieve many happy new years in the future.
“Over 3,500 employers so far are helping us to create a fairer society by ensuring that pensions are no longer the preserve of the few. And the message to employers is make sure you’re ready for the date your workforce joins the two million already in.”
Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation said:
“Looking after our hardworking staff is important to us. They help power our search for the scientific breakthroughs to stop people’s lives being permanently scarred by heart disease. The roll out of automatic enrolment has helped many of them begin saving for the future.”
The new year will see a leap in the number of firms affected, with tens of thousands of medium employers introducing automatic enrolment. The Pensions Regulator is urging all employers to make sure they know when they must introduce the changes, or ‘stage’.
Charles Counsell, executive director of automatic enrolment at The Pensions Regulator said:
“If they have not done it already I would hope the first thing every employer does when they get back to work after the Christmas break is to check their staging date and prepare for automatic enrolment. The clock is ticking and if employers don’t plan ahead they could face unnecessary challenges and costs in the new year.
“It’s really important to arrange your pension provision in plenty of time. We urge employers to have an agreement with a provider in place six months before staging. Don’t just assume the first provider you contact will be able to help you.”
Employers who have staged, including the catering company Elior and the retailer Kingfisher, have been keen to advise others, who have yet to automatically enrol, to allow plenty of time to plan for automatic enrolment.
The regulator’s website has a tool for employers to check when they are due to stage and another that helps them plan ahead to avoid unnecessary complexity and cost.
Go to the staging date tool.
Editor's notes
The British Heart Foundation was one of hundreds of employers to confirm they had completed automatic enrolment by completing registration with The Pensions Regulator in November.
All employers must supply registration information to the regulator after automatically enrolling their staff.
In 2014, tens of thousands of employers will reach their staging date. Eventually up to 1.3 million employers will have automatically enrolled up to 11 million eligible workers into a work-based pension scheme.
The Pensions Regulator is the regulator of work-based pension schemes in the UK. We have objectives to: protect members’ benefits; reduce the risk of calls on the Pension Protection Fund (PPF); and to promote, and to improve understanding of, the good administration of work-based pension schemes.
In the 2008 Pensions Act, and corresponding Northern Ireland legislation, The Pensions Regulator was given a new statutory objective to maximise compliance with employer duties (including the requirement to automatically enrol eligible workers into a qualifying pension provision and pay a minimum contribution) and with certain employment safeguards.
British Heart Foundation: Coronary heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer. For over 50 years the British Heart Foundation has pioneered research that’s transformed the lives of people living with heart and circulatory conditions. For more information go to the British Heart Foundation's website.
Source: The Pensions Regulator - Press Room