Recruitment sector first to be scrutinised for auto-enrolment compliance

RA Now

The Pensions Regulator has targeted the recruitment sector to ensure agencies are complying with their statutory auto-enrolment duties.

The compliance and enforcement team from the public body visited a number of recruitment agencies to share good practice, but also to ensure they were complying with their duties to automatically enrol eligible workers into a work-based pension scheme. 

This comes as the Pensions Regulator targets a number of different sectors that may face difficulties in complying with automatic enrolment. The recruitment industry is thought to have compliance challenges, and over 1,000 recruitment employers are due to reach their staging date between April and July 2014.

As a result of information gathered from the visits, the regulator will be issuing compliance guidance tailored for the recruitment sector. 

“These visits were very positive and employers were willing to engage with us and tell us about their experiences,” executive director of automatic enrolment Charles Counsell said.

“Engaging directly in this way helps us to get a good understanding of the issues faced by this sector and use what we learn to help others in the industry.”

Kate Shoesmith, head of policy at the REC, welcomed the understanding shown by the Pensions Regulator that recruiters face additional barriers in relation to auto-enrolment.

“The process does not lend itself easily to an atypical workforce and recruiters have had to work hard to ensure that their businesses are ready for automatic enrolment,” she said.

‘Over the last 12 months, many recruiters have successfully dealt with the challenges that the industry has faced and we will continue to work with the regulator  to ensure that the remaining recruiters who are yet to reach their staging date are supported through the process,” she added.

Among the guidance offered by the regulator is for employers to make sure their chosen pension scheme and software provider can meet their needs, and to start communicating with providers and testing payroll systems in good time before the staging date – at least six months before is recommended. Employers must also plan how they will best communicate with workers and leave plenty time to accurately assess their workforce. 

Employers can check their staging date at http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/employers/planning-for-automatic-enrolment.aspx