10 STEPS TO COMPULSION SEPTEMBER 2012

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP ONE  Are you aware of the arrival of compulsory contributory pensions in the UK?  The largest employers in the UK will start auto-enrolling staff into pensions from next month!! 1

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP TWO  Do you know when your organisation will be impacted?  The key trigger was the number of employees on your PAYE scheme on 1 April  All UK employers will be receiving the following letter 12 months before their latest starting (or “staging”) date. 2

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP TWO  HAVE YOU HAD YOUR LETTER YET??!!  In less than 2 years, all employers of 100+ staff must be auto-enrolling 2

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP THREE  Does your organisation employ staff who are aged 22 or over, under State Pension Age, and earning more than £8,105 per annum?  If yes, they are “Eligible Jobholders”. 3

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP FOUR  Does your organisation / client employ staff who are aged between 16 and 21, or over State Pension Age?  If yes, are they “Non- eligible jobholders” or “Entitled Workers”? 4

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP FIVE  It does not matter if staff are employed on full time, part time, or fixed term contracts.  If they meet the above eligibility criteria they must be auto-enrolled. 5

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP SIX  You will need to auto- enrol staff in to either your own QWPS or into NEST.  What are QWPS and NEST?  Are you looking to keep costs to a minimum?  Basic Pay or “Banded earnings” – what structure suits your organisation? 6

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP SEVEN  Staff will be auto- enrolled into your chosen pension scheme without having to complete any sort of application or paperwork.  Only once auto- enrolled, individual employees can opt out. 7

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP EIGHT  Has your organisation considered the additional costs to the business? Both in time and money.  Can your systems cope with the constant assessment and monitoring of staff that auto-enrolment requires? 8

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP NINE  Communications to staff will be absolutely critical – will you be able to fully explain and deliver to staff?  Great care is necessary with regard to non-compliance and /or regulatory breaches. 9

TEN STEPS TO COMPULSION STEP TEN  Has your organisation discussed readiness for compulsion with pension providers, payroll providers and legal advisers?  We strongly recommend the construction of a comprehensive project plan.  The Pensions Regulator will be monitoring auto- enrolment very closely. 10

GRAHAM POULTENEY Pensions Consultant t: e: “AUTO-ENROLMENT IS UNSTOPPABLE” (Steve Webb, Pensions Minister, December 2011) 1. CLIENT FIRST 2. RESULTS DRIVEN 3. PRO- GRESSIVE 4. TEAM WORK We put the interests and needs of clients first. We never forget that our advice affects the quality of people’s lives. In everything we do we want to get the best possible result. We keep focussed on the end goal and use our expertise to deliver our client’s objectives efficiently. We challenge the status quo and seek to continually improve. We look to the future and consider the impact on our clients. We work together to deliver the best results. By pooling our collective knowledge we deliver expertise that no single person could. OUR VALUES