ITM, the leading specialist data management provider, is calling for the UK’s largest employers to use pension re-enrolment as an opportunity to review their existing auto-enrolment systems. With three years having passed since auto-enrolment began, Britain’s largest firms must now re-enrol all eligible employees back into their default pension schemes.

These employers now have the opportunity, at the start of this auto enrolment cycle, to review their systems and processes. With the bedding in and relaxation of the auto enrolment regulations, now is the time to examine the assessment and administration workflows, especially where technology has improved to provide operational efficiencies.

The end of the cycle also offers a timely reminder to look at scheme governance, particularly with reference to auditing assessment data to ensure that all employees have been enrolled correctly.

ITM is warning employers that a failure to review existing auto-enrolment systems and correctly audit employee eligibility could endanger a firm’s regulatory compliance through data duplication, erroneously applied postponement and missed contributions. Ultimately, a failure to comply could lead to substantial fines from the TPR.

ITM’s eAsE software can help employers to successfully validate their data against the TPR’s requirements, preventing any incorrect, duplicated or inconsistent data becoming entrenched.

Guy Ridley, ITM’s managing director, said:

“Auto re-enrolment provides the perfect opportunity for employers to review their existing systems and validate their employee data to ensure their compliance with The Pensions Regulator. Companies need to remember that auto-enrolment is an ongoing process, with eligible employees being re-enrolled into their employer’s pension scheme every three years.

Employers that fail to correctly validate employee eligibility will find the TPR’s patience wearing thin. The regulator has already announced it fined 166 employers in Q4 of 2014 alone for failing to comply with regulations on auto-enrolment. Firms have a two month window to re-declare their eligible staff members and it is essential that companies don’t leave themselves open to compliance issues by providing incorrect, inconsistent or duplicated data that could impact on a smooth enrolment process.

At ITM, we suggest that employers look to implement an ongoing annual audit of auto-enrolment compliance. Firms face a momentous task validating their employees in line with The Pensions Regulator. Our eAsE system can make auto-enrolment easier, running validation reports to remove incorrect data and therefore avoiding the potential for contributions mismanagement and, ultimately, any delays to the process. By doing this, firms will be better prepared to deal with the continuing re-enrolment process in the years ahead.”

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