DWP confirms new auto-enrolment staging dates

25 January 2012 10:32 am | By Tom Selby

Pensions minister Steve Webb (pictured) has confirmed the revised staging dates for automatic enrolment following the Government’s decision to delay the reforms for small and medium sized businesses.

Under the new timetable, all employers with an existing staging date on or before February 1, 2014 will not be affected.

Medium sized employers, which includes companies with 50 to 249 employees, will be reallocated auto-enrolment dates between April 1, 2014 and April 1, 2015.

Small employers, which includes firms with fewer than 50 employees, will see their staging dates pushed back until between June 1, 2015 and April 1, 2017.

Any new employer setting up business from April 1, 2012 and September 30, 2017 will have auto-enrolment dates between May 1, 2017 and February 1, 2018.

As a result of the delay, the increase in the minimum rate of employer pension contributions from 1 per cent to 2 per cent of banded earnings will be delayed from October 1, 2016 to October 1, 2017.

Employer contributions will then increase to 3 per cent from October 1, 2018.

Webb says the Department for Work and Pensions will publish a consultation on the detail of these changes “shortly”.

For details of Webb’s appearance before the work and pensions select committee this morning go here.

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