Free guidance to help HR pros understand pensions auto-enrolment
21 June 2012
Employers and HR professionals can get useful guidance on the upcoming pension auto-enrolment reforms through two free booklets launched by pensions experts today.
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) in association with JLT has published the 3rd and 4th guides in its series ‘New rules for pension saving made simple’. The downloadable, A4-sized pamphlets are designed to give employers the knowledge they need to implement auto-enrolment.
The leaflets explain:
· what auto-enrolment is and what employers will need to do
· what the pension scheme options are, and how to pick one
· which employees will be eligible for auto-enrolment
· whether employers will need to change their approach to pensions
· how the costs of auto-enrolment can be managed.
Joanne Segars, NAPF Chief Executive, said:
“Only half the workforce is saving into a pension, so auto-enrolment is a much-needed step in getting the UK putting more aside for its old age. It’s vital that we make it a success, and employers are key to that.
"It is a big reform that requires a lot of preparation, and we need to help the HR profession get to grips with it. This series of leaflets offers an easy to understand toolkit that sets out the key issues and explains what needs to be done.”
The New rules for pension saving made simple series is being sponsored by employee benefits provider JLT.
Duncan Howorth, CEO of JLT Benefits Solutions Ltd, said:
“Automatic enrolment represents a significant change in the pension landscape. Our ongoing involvement with the NAPF in compiling these leaflets is welcome and we believe they will prove crucial for employers and scheme trustees as they work towards developing and implementing their auto enrolment plans. The time to act on auto enrolment is now.
“As we all now know, the underlying legislation is complex and we believe that, regardless of staging dates, organisations must be working now to ensure compliance. This is particularly important in terms of the operational aspects of auto enrolment as having effective and efficient systems in place will prove crucial to success.
“Having a detailed, workable plan on how to engage employees members in an automatic enrolment environment to compliment corporate objectives and enable the workplace to be an effective point to build retirement savings will also be required.”
The DWP estimates auto-enrolment, which starts to take effect from October 2012, is likely to bring between 5 and 8 million workers into pension saving.
Notes to editors:
1. The 3rd leaflet is available here and the 4th here.
2. The NAPF is the leading voice of workplace pensions in the UK. We speak for 1,200 pension schemes with some 15 million members and assets of around £800 billion. NAPF members also include over 400 businesses providing essential services to the pensions sector.
3. JLT is one of the UK’s leading Employee Benefits providers. We offer a single, centralised source relating to all the key aspects of employee benefit programmes including actuarial consulting, investment consulting, technology solutions, flexible benefit packages, benefit communications, healthcare and protection, wealth management and SIPPS and SSAs.
Contacts:
Paul Platt, Head of Media and PR, NAPF, 020 7601 1717 or 07917 506 683, [email protected]
Christian Zarro, Press Officer, NAPF, 020 7601 1718 or 07825 171 446, [email protected]