The government has published a revised timetable for when employers must start enrolling their staff in a workplace pension under the auto-enrolment initiative.
Large employers – those with 250 or more employees – will face no change in the date they were due to start enrolling their staff. The largest employers will be the first to start the process, in October this year.
Publication of the new timetable on 25 January followed an announcement in November that small businesses would be given more time to prepare for auto-enrolment.
Minister for Pensions Steve Webb said: “We have done all we can to ease any burden on business the reforms will bring and employers of all sizes now know the date they need to start enrolling their staff.”
The timetable for employers to begin enrolling their staff starts with the largest firms, followed by medium, then small companies. All existing firms will have enrolled their staff by April 2017, followed by all new employers by February 2018.
The level of pension contributions will be phased in to help employers and individuals adjust. Full contributions will have to be paid from 1 October 2018.