What you need to do

The key steps you need to take in order to meet the new employer duties are:

1. Understand timescales

Within the knowledge centre, you can also find out about the background to how the new employer duties have come about. There is also a helpful jargon buster and useful links to other related websites that might be of interest.

1. Understand timescales

All employers need to meet the new duties duties for safeguarding for individuals from July 2012.
You need to find out when your staging date is - this is the time by which you are obliged to comply with the rest of the new employer duties.
You should then consider how your workforce is likely to look on your staging date - this will enable you to establish what new pension duties you are likely to have.
Working back from your staging date, you can then decide when you need to start preparing to meet the new duties.
Find out more in part two of our guide series: Getting ready - the first steps in preparing for the new duties.

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You need to have a clear idea about whether you will have workers who need to be automatically enrolled, or have a right to opt-in or to join a pension scheme.
This means you need to know who your workers are and split them into the three new categories of worker - 'eligible jobholders', 'non-eligible jobholders' and 'entitled workers'.
Find out more in parts one and three of our guide series: Employer duties and defining the workforce and Assessing the workforce.

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The new employer duties require you to put certain jobholders into an automatic enrolment pension scheme.
To be an automatic enrolment pension scheme, three tiers of requirements must be met - the automatic enrolment criteria, the qualifying criteria and the minimum requirements. The minimum requirements vary between defined contribution (DC), defined benefit (DB) and hybrid pension schemes.
You need to decide whether and how you want to use an existing pension scheme to meet your duties. Alternatively, a new automatic enrolment scheme will need to be set up.
Find out more in part four of our guide series: Pension schemes.

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Having assessed your workforce, you will probably find you have employees who will need to be automatically enrolled, or who could have the right to opt in to a pension scheme. As you will be required to make employer pension contributions in respect of these individuals, the new duties will represent a cost to your business.
Having reviewed your scheme, you may find alterations need to be made to make sure it can be used for the new auto enrolment duties. This could also be a cost to your business, for example if your contributions need to increase to meet the new minimum requirements.
These calculations could be quite complex - please contact us if you would like us to help.

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Automatic enrolment is one of the key employer duties being introduced from 2012 as a result of workplace pension reforms.
You must, within prescribed time limits, arrange for eligible jobholders who are not already active members of a qualifying pension scheme to become members of an automatic enrolment pension scheme with effect from their automatic enrolment date.
You must also give mandatory information to the pension scheme about an eligible jobholder.
This is likely to require changes to your existing pension joining processes or, if you do not already have a pension scheme, implementation of processes that are completely new to your business.
Find out more in part five of our guide series: Automatic enrolment.

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You are required to give mandatory enrolment information to an eligible jobholder, within prescribed timescales, that:

1. Tells them that they have been (or will be) auto enrolled into a pension scheme and what this means for them.

2. Explains their right to opt-out, and their right to opt back in.

3. Provides information about the pension scheme into which the eligible jobholder has been automatically enrolled.
You must provide non-eligible jobholders with information about opting-in to an auto enrolment scheme and what this means for them, and entitled workers with information about joining a pension scheme and what this means for them.
Find out more in part five of our guide series: Automatic enrolment.

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Some workers have the right to opt in to an automatic enrolment scheme. They can do this by giving you an opt-in notice.
You must have processes in place to handle these requests. You need to:

1. be sure the worker has the right to make such a request

2. check that the notice is valid

3. make arrangements for the jobholder to join the scheme from the enrolment date
Other workers will have the right to join a workplace pension scheme. You must also have processes in place to handle these requests.
Find out more in part 6 of our guide series: Opting in, joining and contractual enrolment.
Eligible jobholders who have been automatically enrolled, or non-eligible jobholders who have opted in, can opt out of active pension scheme membership during a prescribed opt-out period.
They do this by giving you an opt-out notice. When you receive it, you must refund any contributions deducted from the jobholder’s pay within specific timescales.
Find out more in part 7 of our guide series: Opting out.

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You will need to meet new legal requirements to keep specific records about your workers and the pension scheme you have used to comply with the employer duties.
An employer must keep track of the age and earnings of everyone who works for them at all times so they are able to assess when a worker first meets the criteria to be an eligible jobholder, and hence must be auto enrolled.
Find out more in part 9: Keeping records.

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Every three years, you will need to automatically re-enrol any eligible jobholders who are not already a member of a qualifying pension scheme including those who have opted out.
Find out more in part five of our guide series: Automatic enrolment.

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