The People Bulletin
Revised timetable for auto-enrolment announced
26 January 2012
In a written statement the DWP have announced the revised timetable for auto-enrolment.
The Department for Work and Pensions have confirmed the revised timeline for auto-enrolment. In a written statement the government reaffirmed that auto enrolment would begin on time in October.
Clarifying the announcement made at the end of November that the timetable for auto-enrolment would be “adjusted”, the statement confirmed that all employers with an existing deadline of on or before 1st February 2014 would be unaffected by the adjustment. This means that no large employers (companies with more than 250 employees) will be affected by the change.
Conversely, medium sized companies could find their implementation dates being moved to up to nine months later than previously expected – this change is expected to result in 70% of eligible employees being automatically enrolled in a pension scheme before the end of the current Parliament – compared to 75% under the previous timetable.
Reactions
Reaction to the new timeline was mixed. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber referred to the changes as “a deeply disappointing delay” claiming that the changes “add up to a classic case of 'make me good, but not yet'”.
However, Joanne Segars, chief executive of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), said they were pleased that the government had spelled out a new timetable for auto-enrolment, allowing businesses to prepare for auto enrolment. She added:
“Now the government needs to stick to the new timetable and avoid last minute changes that will undermine the success of the reforms. There have been too many delays already.
“These reforms are a once in a generation opportunity to help tackle the UK’s pensions savings crisis. But they require a lot of preparation. Employers need to make important decisions on how to fund the new pensions and what type of schemes they will use. They will also have to decide how they will manage the costs, and how they will set up the payroll”.
A copy of the revised timetable can be found below:
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The table below sets out the revised automatic enrolment dates for all employer sizes. Employer size (by PAYE scheme size) or other description
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Automatic Enrolment duty date
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From (inc.)
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To (inc.)
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250 or more members
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1st October 2012
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1st February 2014
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50 to 249 members
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1st April 2014
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1st April 2015
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Test tranche for less than 30 members
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1st June 2015
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30th June 2015
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30 to 49 members
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1st August 2015
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1st October 2015
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Less than 30 members
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1st January 2016
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1st April 2017
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Employers without PAYE schemes
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1st April 2017
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- - -
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New employers Apr 2012 to Mar 2013
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1st May 2017
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- - -
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New employers Apr 2013 to Mar 2014
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1st July 2017
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- - -
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New employers Apr 2014 to Mar 2015
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1st August 2017
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- - -
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New employers Apr 2015 to Dec 2015
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1st October 2017
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- - -
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New employers Jan 2016 to Sep 2016
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1st November 2017
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- - -
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New employers Oct 2016 to Jun 2017
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1st January 2018
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- - -
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New employers Jul 2017 to Sep 2017
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1st February 2018
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- - -
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New employers Oct 2017
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Immediate duty
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- - -
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See also: 'Delays to auto-enrolment - at least for small businesses' in The People Bulletin, 1 December 2011.
www.tuc.org.uk
www.napf.co.uk
www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-vote-office/4.DWP-Changes-to-the-automatic-enrolment-timetable.pdf