13 Jan 2016
In a new survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), three in four business owners who responded claimed that pensions auto-enrolment has ‘put too much pressure’ on them.
The study also found that some 45% of respondents were unclear about their responsibilities regarding enrolling their employees into pension schemes.
Over the next two years, more than a million small and micro businesses will be required to set up a workplace pension for their employees under the auto-enrolment rules.
From January, many more employers will reach their designated staging date, with tens of thousands ‘staging’ each month in 2016 and 2017.
In response to the survey, Lesley Titcomb, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, claimed that auto-enrolment had so far been successful, with over 70,000 employers signing up to it.
She stated: ‘We're not complacent. In the next three months, 100,000 employers have got to enrol their employees. The message to them is that they need to start early, and make a plan.’
John Allan, FSB national chairman, said: ‘Our message for small employers is auto-enrolment is coming and will affect your business – and the sooner you get to grips with what you need to do, the better off you will be.
‘Most of the businesses which have already set up a work place pension told us they found the process fairly straightforward, but we know many remain concerned about their ability to cope. These businesses should feel reassured that there is plenty of information and support available to help them through this process, both through the FSB and from the Pensions Regulator.’