More than nine in 10 (96%) employer respondents are confident they are fully compliant with their ongoing auto-enrolment duties, according to research by The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
Its Ongoing duties survey: July 2017 report, which surveyed 290 micro employers with 1-4 members of staff, 305 small employers with 5-49 employees, and 205 medium-sized employers with between 50 and 249 employees, also found that 45% of small employer respondents, 42% of micro employer respondents, and 53% of medium-sized employer respondents think that future contribution rate increases are likely to lead to more employees opting out of their pension.
The research also found:
- 24% of micro employer respondents, 31% of small employer respondents, and 30% of medium-sized employer respondents are currently paying more than the minimum 1% employer contribution for all their employees.
- 49% of medium-sized employer respondents, 39% of small employer respondents, and 31% of micro employer respondents feel that staff would find it difficult to afford increased pension contributions.
- 27% of medium-sized employer respondents, 22% of small employer respondents, and 31% of micro employer respondents believe they would find it difficult to meet the increased minimum employer contributions.
- 6% of medium-sized employer respondents, 10% of small employer respondents, and 16% of micro employer respondents find it difficult to keep up with their ongoing auto-enrolment duties.
- 21% of those respondents that find it difficult to keep up with their auto-enrolment duties cite keeping up with regulations as a key difficulty. Other difficulties include finding the time (19%), a lack of support or information (15%), and assessing or monitoring staff (11%).
- 52% of micro employer respondents are aware of their auto-re-enrolment duties, compared to 72% of small employer respondents, and 79% of medium-sized employer respondents.
- 26% of medium-sized employer respondents have no plans to prepare in advance of their re-enrolment date, and 33% expect to use some form of external support for re-enrolment.
- 59% of micro employer respondents, 68% of small employer respondents, and 58% of medium-sized employer respondents find their auto-enrolment duties less onerous than they expected.
Darren Ryder, director of automatic enrolment at TPR, said: “These new figures show automatic-enrolment is now simply part of running a business and that most employers have found meeting their duties less complicated than they expected.
“The vast majority of employers comply on time and it is encouraging that so many employers are confident they are doing the right thing for their staff.
“Employers can find the information they need to meet their ongoing duties on our website so they can ensure they are carrying out their duties correctly.”
