The number of employers complying with auto-enrolment reaches one million

Data released by The Pensions Regulator has revealed that as of January 2018, the number of employers complying with auto-enrolment has reached the one million mark.

The first workers were automatically enrolled in October 2012, with staging dates bringing businesses and their employees into workplace pension schemes for the first time. While more than 600,000 employers complied with their duties in the last 12 months, around 150,000 have until the June 2018 deadline to enrol their staff.

Guy Opperman, the minister for pensions and financial inclusion commented:

“With one million employers enrolling their staff into a workplace pension, we are creating a nation of responsible employers who are reassuring their workforce that with their support, they will have a secure retirement.

He continued:

“Clearly this would not have been possible without the hard work and continued support of employers across the UK.”

Since 2012, the government’s auto-enrolment policy has put a mandatory requirement on businesses to enroll their staff into a workplace pension. This has been a gradual process, starting with the UK’s largest employers and has now worked its way down to smaller organisations. If you’re unsure about how this affects your business, please contact us about our payroll services.

So far, more than nine million workers aged 22 and over who are earning more than £10,000 a year have benefitted from minimum employer contributions of 1% towards their workplace pension. Later this year, it’s expected that up to 10 million workers will be saving more into a workplace pension through the scheme.

From April 2018, employers will need to contribute a minimum of 2% (up from 1%) while the employee will pay at least 3%.

In April 2019, the minimum contribution rates for employers will increase again to 3%, with the worker paying 5%.

If you have any questions about auto-enrolment and how this affects your business, contact PKB Accountants about our payroll services and we will be more than happy to advise.