Buck Consultants have teamed up with Wragge & Co LLP in a joint initiative aimed at assisting Small and Medium Enterprisises to fulfil their automatic enrolment obligations.
The organisations have teamed up to offer a seamless approach to providing the pensions and legal advice SMEs need to achieve a successful implementation.
Philip Smith, Director and Head of Defined Contribution and Wealth at Buck Consultants, says: “A recent survey by The Pensions Regulator revealed that only 27% of medium-sized employers had plans to enrol their workforces into a qualifying pension scheme and were acting on them[1]. However, our experience has shown that the sheer complexity of the legislation means important issues such as ‘do I have the right pension vehicle?’ or ‘will my pension scheme be legally administered?’ requires careful consideration and forward planning, to enable companies to manage and discharge their employer duties successfully in good time.”
“The hard reality is that many pension providers are no longer considering schemes unless they are at least twelve months ahead of their staging date. It’s essential that companies don’t leave it too late when not only will their choice of providers be severely limited, but they could also incur higher costs.”
The Buck & Wragge “expert view” offers:
• A concise, free online questionnaire designed to capture key information www.buckconsultants.co.uk/enrolmentpro
• A face-to-face consultation with pensions and legal experts who will review questionnaire responses and guide companies through a comprehensive Key Considerations Checklist (KCC);
• Following the review, companies will receive a KCC, which is tailored to meet the specific needs of their business, highlighting the most important action points and issues to be considered.
This fixed fee “expert view” gives companies access to a dedicated team of pensions and legal experts who have experience in every aspect of the staging process, from the analysis of the payroll solution to comprehensive legal advice on employee contracts and communications. By providing comprehensive counsel and devising tailored solutions, companies are given the assurance that employer duties will be met and regulatory penalties avoided.
Richard Lee, Partner and Head of Workplace Pension Reform at Wragge & Co LLP, says: “Many businesses remain unprepared for automatic enrolment, in part due to a lack of in-house specialists who understand the complex issues affecting legal, HR, payroll, IT and personnel. This new service, which is the first of its kind to be launched in UK, will focus on compliance to ensure employer duties are fully met and regulatory penalties avoided, with a fixed cost.”
Smith concludes: “Following the “expert view” consultation, companies will be in a position to move forward with the confidence and knowledge regarding the implementation of their automatic enrolment solution. Our unique approach is designed to provide a seamless framework whereby companies can benefit from the legal expertise of Wragge and Buck’s experience of implementing pensions solutions for employers, both large and small. As a result, we can both help companies successfully steer their way through the pensions and legal maze.”
|
