Auto-enrolment

Plans to exempt UK employers from having to auto-enrol staff working in Europe have won the backing of the National Association of Pension Funds.

Defined benefit payouts will peak this year before tailing off as the impact of scheme closures is felt, says the Department for Work and Pensions.

Professional Pensions is set to publish a special focus on data hubs and middleware for auto-enrolment in April.

Jonathan Stapleton has a spring in his step

Getting HR and payroll systems ready for compliance with auto-enrolment requirements is the biggest pensions challenge facing employers, Mercer research reveals.

The National Employment Savings Trust has finalised its opt-out process ahead of the introduction of auto-enrolment later this year.

The auto-enrolment earnings trigger and the lower and upper limits for the qualifying earnings band have been confirmed.

The National Association of Pension Funds has urged government to amalgamate small pots into a number of super trusts in a bid to solve the problem of "stranded" schemes.

Small to micro employers will be given a "significant easement" of £1.7bn in the roll-out of auto-enrolment, under government plans to delay both staging and contribution rates.

Government plans to hike the income tax threshold to £9,205 could complicate the roll-out of auto-enrolment, experts have warned.