The Pensions Regulator has warned catering and hospitality operators to act now and get to grips with automatic enrolment.
The regulator has stressed that preparations to automatically enrol staff into a work place pension scheme should not be left to the last minute. The catering and hospitality sectorin particular have been urged to leave plenty of time to decide which workers must to be enrolled.
Complex task to assess who is eligible
Under the legislation, employers must assess their workers to see who is eligible and this can be a more complex task for industries likecatering and hospitalitywhich employs lots of seasonal and part time staff. Leaving this task to the last minute means employers could risk failing to meet their deadline – the declaration of compliance (registration) date. Failing to meet the deadline risks non compliance which can come at a cost.
The warning follows the publication of the regulator’s first quarterly compliance bulletin which shows how many times the regulator has used its powers. While the majority of employers have complied without the need to use the powers, the regulator expects to see an increase in the times it will need to use its powers as the number reaching their staging date rises.
Leave enough time for compliance
Executive Director of Automatic Enrolment Charles Counsell (pictured above) said: “I would urge employers in the hospitalitysector, especially those with part time and seasonal workers, to make sure they are not caught out by failing to leave enough time. A last minute rush could lead to mistakes and risks non compliance. All the information is on our website and employers should also consider whether they will need help from an adviser to meet their automatic enrolment duties.”
The regulator recommends that taking time to ensure they have up to date and accurate information about their staff will help hotel and restaurant workerswhen assessing workers. The regulator also encourages employers to automate their processes to help meet their duties. There is detailed information on assessing workers on the regulator’s website here
Tens of thousands of SMEs will need to act
Already around 21,000 large and medium sized employers have automatically enrolled more than 4 million workers. In the coming months, tens of thousands of SMEs will need to act. Employers must first find out their staging date. This is a date set in law and is when an employer’s automatic enrolment duty comes into force. The regulator recommends employers start planning 12 months before their staging date.
The handy time line planner here shows employers what they will need to do and when.
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