There’s no doubt that it can be fun to leave some things until the last minute:
· A hen party or stag do held the weekend before the big day
· Telling your kids about a Disney holiday only hours before the plane takes off
· Taking a gorgeous cheese soufflé out of the oven when it is perfectly cooked
· Booking plane tickets for a deeply discounted sun holiday abroad
That said, there is definitely one thing that is decidedly not fun to leave until the very last minute – your pensions auto-enrolment tasks.
If you are the owner of a small to medium sized business or you are the employer and the person in charge of payroll, you are legally responsible to assess all employees and automatically enrol eligible staff members in a qualifying workplace pension scheme.
As of 2012, the government has mandated that all businesses across the country are now responsible for contributing to a pensions scheme for their staff members. No matter how big or small the company, all UK businesses must have a qualifying workplace pension scheme in place.
Many different companies have already established their pension plans; the Pensions Regulator issued staging dates to certain companies as early as 2013. Other business owners have chosen to implement their pensions scheme in advance of their government mandated staging dates, and have already been contributing to their employees’ plans for months, if not years.
That said, many businesses have not yet started, and time is running out at a breakneck speed.
If you are this far down the page, its likely that you are not one of these early birds – do you know your staging date? If so if you are within 6 months of it you are getting dangerously close to the very last minute.
With just a few months left before your final deadline, you need to act quickly. Failure to do so will result in fines, penalties and a loss of good standing with the Pensions Regulator. In extreme cases, you could even end up in court.
How can you choose a pensions scheme for your business?
There are plenty of variables that will affect the specific pensions plan that suits your business best; the size of your company, your industry, your annual turnover and other key factors. You don’t have to be an expert in auto-enrolment – that is what the experienced team at Options Corporate Pensions Ltd. is here for.
Leaving your shopping until the last minute is one thing but – leaving your auto-enrolment responsibilities and setting up your workplace pension until the last minute is another thing that can stress you out for years. Don’t chance it! Call or email Options Pensions UK today and let’s get your plans sorted out.