Pensions auto-enrolment begins for larger employers from 1 October 2012
From 1 October 2012, employers with more than 120,000 members in their PAYE scheme will be required to auto-enrol eligible jobholders (who are not participating in a workplace pension scheme) into a qualifying pension scheme or the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST).
Also on 1 October the Employers' Duties (Implementation) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 come into force. These take into account the introduction of pensions auto-enrolment, and amend the disclosure regime to introduce a one-month timescale for the trustees of auto-enrolment schemes to issue basic scheme information to jobholders, who should therefore receive the information before the end of their opt-out period.
Non-automatic enrolment schemes will be required to provide basic scheme information to members within two months of the person joining the scheme. The duty to auto-enrol is being introduced in phases, starting with the larger employers but SMEs (with 250 or fewer staff) that have already signed up to the NEST scheme in advance of their 'staging dates' are reporting a strong take-up among staff - 80% and above.