TPR publishes new guides to employers’ AE duties

The guidance, which forms part of the regulator’s suite of educational materials for all UK employers, has been updated to reflect changes brought about by the Pensions Act 2011 and recent regulations put before Parliament.
The new guides cover a range of issues, including postponement, DC certification, the definition of ’ordinarily working’, contractual enrolment, including clarification around salary sacrifice and flex benefits, and updated staging information in light of the Government’s announcement on 25 January 2012.
TPR has also updated its website so that employers can find out their indicative staging date following the Government’s announcement on the revised staging profile for employers with fewer than 250 staff last month. There will be a further update when the Government publishes detailed draft regulations on the revised staging profile in due course.
TPR executive director for employer compliance Charles Counsell says: “The UK’s 1.3million employers are at the centre of workplace pensions reform. These detailed guides, aimed at large employers and pension professionals, cover the full range of the new requirements – including the most recent legislation and a number of areas where professional advisers have requested more detail.
“We’ve already written to large employers representing over a third of the UK workforce. We’re encouraged by the progress that these companies are making in conjunction with their advisers and we believe that these updated guides will provide large employers and their advisors with further assistance in their preparation for automatic enrolment.
“At the other end of the spectrum, we’ve produced simple educational tools for small and micro companies who will be affected by the reforms later but who should be aware of these reforms now. We’ll write to all these employers too as their staging date approaches.”
The detailed guides are available at www.tpr.gov.uk/detailed-guidance