From October 2012 UK employers will have new responsibilities to enrol any employees aged between 22 and state retirement age earning over £7,475 per annum into the Government’s own National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) savings scheme, if their current pension provision does not meet the Government’s new standards.
The actual dates are dependant on the company size by employee count, but one thing is for certain every employer needs to start making plans now.
What this means for you as an employer is that any existing employee pension schemes you have in place must meet the Government’s new standards of an 8% contribution of qualifying earnings which includes a 3% contribution from the employer. If your level of company contribution falls short, you may need to either increase your current level of contribution, start an additional scheme to compliment your existing one, or start a new scheme to replace you existing one, to avoid your employees being auto-enrolled into the Government’s scheme.
NEST will be a low cost, low charge option, and employees can still obtain tax relief on contributions, but it will not accept transfers in or out. Employees do also have the option of opting out of NEST, but the employer will have responsibility of auto enrolling them back into NEST again every 3 years.
For more information on NEST, go to www.nestpensions.org .uk
With the first NEST deadlines less than a year away, now is a good time to examine your Company’s pension provision with the help of an expert, such as CRM & AGM Independent Financial Advisers, 30 Bankside Court, Kidlington. They can be contacted by telephone on 01865 370708
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