500,000 more business to be hit by auto-enrolment than expected
New figures from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) have shown that half a million more small businesses will have auto enrolment duties than previously anticipated.
The figures come as part of TPR’s 3rd annual automatic enrolment commentary and analysis.
The analysis has shown that around 1.8million small employers will need to meet their pension duties in the coming 3 years – compared to a previous estimate of around 1.3million. Summer 2017 will see around 350,000 small employers’ auto enrolment duties coming into effect.
The explanation for this significant upward trend in the estimate is that more business start-ups had entered the UK market, whilst lower numbers of businesses had closed than expected.
The auto enrolment program means that employers must offer a workplace pension by 2018, with smaller employers now approaching their designated ‘staging’ dates.
Commenting on the new figures, Charles Counsell, executive director of automatic enrolment at TPR said: “Automatic enrolment has had a dramatic impact on the number of people saving for retirement in the UK, but the new analysis we’ve published today demonstrates that significant challenges still lie ahead.”
‘As a result of more new employers starting up and fewer going out of business, the pensions sector will need to plan for larger numbers reaching the start of their duties. Thanks to automatic enrolment, saving for retirement is becoming the norm and we know most employers want to do the right thing by their staff.’
To find out about how The Auto Enrolment Company could help your company to comply with auto enrolment rules, contact us today on 01455 550854.