One day I receive a call…

“I can’t believe it Chris” said the director of a business.

“I spent some time to put in place a pension scheme, made sure my payroll could work with my pensions provider but I get this letter through the post saying I haven’t complied and could be liable for a fine.”

Whilst I couldn’t give him an answer straight away without understanding a lot more about his business I felt I might have understood what the issue might have been and I found upon further investigation that my initial hunch had been correct.

You see this particular business owner had done loads right. He’d put in place a decent pension scheme, he’d got help from the people who ran his payroll. However the mistake he’d made was not fully understanding what he needed to do when it came to the regulation.

If you’re an employer let me pass on a piece of friendly advice.

Take some time to understand what your obligations are under the automatic enrolment rules.

Understand what you need to do…but most importantly understand that there are tasks you need to complete which aren’t directly pensions or payroll related (like reporting you’ve complied to the pensions regulator)

Now for employers who have the time and inclination to fully understand automatic enrolment it’s possible for employers to comply directly and get everything sorted in the three areas employers need to action in, Pensions, Payroll AND Regulation.

…however for those employers who need help (and especially if you’re one of them) they should consider getting support.

For smaller businesses with more limited budgets, our software service AE in a Box might be an appropriate approach:- Watch the video here.

For larger businesses, or smaller more complex business (especially firms where the pension is perceived as a valuable benefit) it’s worth sitting down with one of our team to discuss getting in touch.

We look forward to hearing from you soon,

Contact us at cassiedaems@cervellofp.co.uk or call us on 01708 606 202