Update on the Workplace Pension Reforms
The key package of regulations for the above were published earlier this month by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This will provide further clarity for employers who are preparing for the reforms and also for the advisers who are assisting them with their preparations!

This article has been prepared by Karen Wynard of Eastwood & Partners Financial Services:

I will write more about the reforms and the key regulations in the coming months, after all, the reforms will launch from October this year. However, some of you will be aware that in November last year, Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister announced a delay to the implementation of the reforms for smaller firms. The revised dates were not clarified at that time but were promised for the end of January 2012.

For those employers that are keen to start their planning process or for those that are conscious that they must start giving this some thought, I am pleased to say that the revised dates have now been published.

According to The Pensions Regulator, the ‘likely’ staging dates (the dates from which different employers will be required to comply) for employers with over 250 or more employees in a PAYE scheme are unaffected. For those employers with less than 250 employees in their PAYE scheme, the Government has published the staging time bands that these employers will fall into. With regard to the smallest employers (less than 50), they will not reach their staging date until June 2015 at the earliest and the individual staging dates of employers within these time bands will be confirmed later this year.

Please remember that staging dates are determined by the size of an employer’s largest PAYE scheme on 1 April 2012 when it will become fixed. All staging dates are ‘likely’ dates until then as PAYE schemes may change size before 1 April 2012.

To view the likely staging date or time band for your largest PAYE scheme, please visit The Pension Regulator website www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk

If you would like to discuss the details of the workplace pension reforms in more detail or you would like any help or advice with your preparations, we aim to provide a full, independent advisory service on this matter so please feel free to get in touch! Contact us on 01422 377737 or karen@eastwoodfinancial.co.uk.
Posted Friday 2nd of March 2012