A majority (92%) of employers said the administration of auto-enrolment is a key concern in relation to the incoming pension duties, according to research by Staffcare.
The research, which surveyed both employers and advisers, found that 70% of advisers plan to use a specialist external system to handle the ongoing administration requirements associated with auto-enrolment.
Among employers, the research found:
- 88% of respondents plan to spend between seven and 18 months preparing for auto-enrolment.
- Less than 40% of respondents have decided which pension scheme to use for auto-enrolment.
- Nearly 80% of respondents intend to work with professional advisers to prepare for auto-enrolment.
Among advisers, the research found:
- 15% of respondents intend to use a manual process to calculate the cost impact of auto-enrolment on behalf of employers.
- More than 80% of respondents said that 40% or fewer of employers had assessed their workforce.
- 56% of respondents said it is important or very important that the auto-enrolment technology system is independent of any pension provider.
Phil Hollingdale, founder and chief executive officer at Staffcare said: “From a technology perspective, the areas of most importance to both advisers and employers appear to be the ability for their auto-enrolment solution to be used with any type of pension scheme and to be built on a robust platform that can manage complex benefit schemes.”
