Being registered with a compliant umbrella company means qualifying for all the benefits and entitlements that come with official employment status, such as sickness pay and maternity benefit. This includes auto-enrolment in a pension scheme. We have a legal requirement to enrol our employees once they have worked for us for a period of three months and this will happen automatically.
There is a huge gap in the UK between what we should be investing for the future and what we are actually setting aside for our retirements. The legislation is obviously aimed at encouraging people to make provisions for their future and consequently contractors have to be auto-enrolled but there is currently no obligation to remain in the scheme. We are aware that many of our contractors may already have alternative pension arrangements in place or feel that for whatever reason it isn’t the right time for them to contribute. The option is there to opt out of the pension scheme at any time following enrolment by informing our pension scheme provider NEST.
Equally if a new contractor knows that they want to enrol and doesn’t want to wait for three months then we can arrange for them to join the scheme straight away.
For those enrolled in the pension scheme earning in excess of £181.50 per week we will administer the pension scheme contributions. A 1% employee’s contribution will be deducted from their pay and paid over to the pension fund along with a 1% employer’s contribution.
If you would like more information about auto-enrolment call one of our team on 01244 500195 or for more information on our scheme provider NEST visit www.nestpensions.org.uk
