KEY POINTS
- Star delivers a step-bystep consultancy programme for auto-enrolment.
- Enrich can incorporate middleware into a Star package.
- Compliance is continuous throughout Enrich’s auto-enrolment solutions
Auto-enrolment requires UK employers to auto-enrol all eligible employees into a qualifying pension scheme if they are not already a member. The largest employers, those with 120,000-plus employees, began enrolling staff on 1 October 2012. The remaining employers’ staging dates for complying with the new regulations will be phased in until 2017.
Enrich is working hard to help employers meet their staging date and has developed Solutions and Technology for Auto-Enrolment (Star) with which to do so.
Star delivers a step-by-step consultancy programme that maps out a clear path of action moving towards an employer’s auto enrolment staging date.
The Star step-by-step consultancy package is designed to provide bespoke advice and guidance for employers at every point of their auto-enrolment journey, no matter where they are or what their budget, as they approach their staging date. Star also integrates any identified third parties into the process as and when employers require.
The Star service package is flexible and accessible for employers of all sizes and sectors and is divided into five key stages: workforce assessment; strategic development; technology; implementation; and ongoing management.
The workforce assessment stage involves Enrich reviewing an employer’s current pension plans and contribution structures, and evaluating what its auto-enrolment project plan needs to include, once the employer’s staging date has been identified.
The strategic development stage involves developing a strategy and detailed planning for an employer. Once Enrich understands the work that needs to be done, it will work with an employer to plan a project and deliver an outcome that is aligned to the requirements of the business.
The technology stage involves identifying a suitable software system to support the organisation’s processes, a choice that will depend on several factors. Assessing the various options available and recommending an appropriate solution is a critical element of the Star process.
The implementation stage ensures that an employer has all the necessary tools in place to make its staging date a success. The final stage, ongoing management, focuses on compliance, which is continuous throughout all of Enrich’s auto-enrolment solutions.
Using an appropriate data hub is key to the successful launch and management of auto enrolment. Star has a ready-made solution to meet employers’ requirements.
If the employer prefers to adopt a middleware solution offered by a third party, such as its pension or payroll provider, this can be incorporated into the Star package.
Every member of the Enrich team recognises that each employer has very specific organisational needs that require particular solutions, and will look at how to meet these requirements through Star.
Through constant communication with an employer or the advisers that are responsible for delivering its auto-enrolment strategy, Enrich ensures that the services required to achieve auto-enrolment implementation are deployed in a comprehensive and timely manner.
Nick Oram is head of pensions at Enrich
This whitepaper has been written by Enrich
