Glasgow Business . 35 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


SMEs must wake up to the implications of the continuing roll out of pension auto-enrolment


GET READY FOR THE NEST EGG


I


t’s not unusual for millions of people throughout the UK to put the subject of pensions to the back of their minds. But SMEs across the land need to be wide awake to the looming impact of auto-enrolment. Te UK government programme, which began in October


2012, is about to make its presence felt. Larger employers, with more than 250 employees, have


already been affected. But, from April 2014, it’s the turn of medium-sized companies with between 50 and 249 employees. And firms with fewer than 50 employees will start enrolling their workers from June 2015. Auto-enrolment was introduced aſter the Government realised


that millions of people are failing to save for their retirement. While life expectancy in the UK is increasing, people are saving less into pensions. Figures show that in


1901 there were 10 people working for every pensioner in the UK; by 2010 that had gone down to three. With auto-enrolment, employers,who don’t already have


arrangements in place, are obliged to set up and contribute to a pension scheme. Eligible employees must join that scheme and make their own contributions.


Who needs to be enrolled?


Derek Blaik, Financial Planning Director at Turcan Connell Asset Management, outlined which employees would be affected. He said: “Employers need to assess their workforce to determine which workers will be classified as ‘eligible employees’. Generally speaking, all employees and contractors who are aged between 22 and the state pension age, and who earn more than the stipulated minimum earnings threshold (which is the income tax personal allowance, currently £9440 a year), must be automatically enrolled.”


Continued on page 36> >


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52