Workplace won't provide auto enrollment pension

angelicmandy

Hi my partner's workplace have advised they are not automatically enrolling their staff on workplace pensions because the company is fairly new. Is this legal ? They have been going since around 2012/13 and at least 30 employees, some staff are classed as salaried and paid monthly but some staff aren't and are paid every four weeks. I can't understand why the new 2012 pension rules don't apply to the company, am I missing something?
Thank you for any info

Reue

angelicmandy wrote: »

They have been going since around 2012/13

So not that new at all then...

I've not heard of anything about 'new' companies being exempt?

Lois_and_CK

My husband's company has to provide them and he set up in 2015.

PensionTech

I've not heard of anything about 'new' companies being exempt?

Not exempt, but they have longer to comply, and yes 2012 does (or may) count as "new" for this purpose.

My husband's company has to provide them and he set up in 2015.

I'd be very surprised if he *has* to provide them, since a 2015 startup wouldn't be caught by the new rules until around autumn 2017. [STRIKE]In fact I don't think you can even bring your staging date forward by more than 3 months so he may have to jump through some more hoops next year to show that he is compliant,[/STRIKE] unless there's some reason why his staging date is actually earlier than his company's incorporation would suggest.

I can't understand why the new 2012 pension rules don't apply to the company, am I missing something?

Small employers and new employers may not have to start auto-enrolling people yet. The regulator used to publish timetables, but all I can find now is an irritating calculator which requires you to know the employer's PAYE ref before it can tell you the staging date. There is a timetable here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-timetable-clarifies-automatic-enrolment-starting-dates but I don't know whether it's current or not as there's an ambiguous note at the top about the dates changing (some staging dates were pushed back a little while ago, if I remember rightly). Still, it may give you some kind of idea about likely timeframes.

Edit: Aha - TPR does have something for new employers, at least - about halfway down this page: http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/checking-your-clients-staging-date.aspx

Edit again: I'm wrong about the 3 months thing for bringing the staging date forward. So it's quite possible that the 2015 startup company is now AE compliant, but it would almost certainly have been by choice rather than necessity.

dunstonh

Hi my partner's workplace have advised they are not automatically enrolling their staff on workplace pensions because the company is fairly new.

New legal entities do have a delay in being required to start. However, that tends to be counted in months. A company that started in 2012 is not a new company. We are currently at the stage were employers with any more than a few staff have already been required to auto enrol. It is just the very smallest left now and most of those would have their date.

Is this legal ?

As they started in 2012/13 then they are breaking the law.

They have been going since around 2012/13 and at least 30 employees, some staff are classed as salaried and paid monthly but some staff aren't and are paid every four weeks. I can't understand why the new 2012 pension rules don't apply to the company, am I missing something?

That would suggest they should have had AE in place about 2 years ago at least.

You need to speak to the pensions regulator:
http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/individuals/report-concerns-workplace-pension-whistleblowing-complaints.aspx

PensionTech

As they started in 2012/13 then they are breaking the law... That would suggest they should have had AE in place about 2 years ago at least.

I think this info is out of date. TPR's detailed guidance http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/docs/detailed-guidance-2.pdf shows that small employers established pre-April 2012, depending on their PAYE ref, may not have to go through staging until April 2017 (my own company is included in this - we go through AE next month). As this is a 2012/2013 company, chances are it's subject to a slightly later date of May or July 2017. And, of course, it may apply postponement, pushing it back further.

achaplin

The original staging dates were based on HMRC data as at April 2012. Companies registered after that are assigned dates mainly in 2017 so quite likely they do not have do do anything yet but if they employ people they will soon...

JohnB47

Just as an aside - I know of a small, long established company, where the approx 6 employees have been told 'we can't introduce a workplace pension scheme and have the possibility of yearly pay rises'.

This sort of thing can't really be policed, can it?

PensionTech

This sort of thing can't really be policed, can it?

That's a sad situation; I remember there was someone on this forum complaining of the same thing, probably about a year ago. You should report them to TPR using dunstonh's whistleblowing link above, but in general I agree with you - just like small-scale tax evasion, you have to rely on most people being willing to follow the rules, and a few big prosecutions to scare everyone else into compliance, and in reality people who want to flout the rules will probably get away with it.

Mothman

JohnB47 wrote: »

Just as an aside - I know of a small, long established company, where the approx 6 employees have been told 'we can't introduce a workplace pension scheme and have the possibility of yearly pay rises'.

Not sure that this is that unusual. At the company I work for all staff that were auto-enrolled were told that the employers contribution would be in lieu of a pay review for that year, though the company did opt for the full 3% employer contribution from day one.

angelicmandy

Thank you all for the replies. By way of an update, my partner's firm have advised all staff they will be automatically enrolled this year and having meetings soon about it. ��