UK’S 6.5 Million Carers Must Be Signed Up For Workplace Pension

• The staging date (deadline) is looming for those who employ a carer
• People with just one employee must comply or face penalties or even prison
• Huge increase in volume may cause hold-ups

The UK’s 6.5 million-strong carer community must be signed up for a workplace pension over the coming months or employers will face penalties, says an online pension provider.

According to online auto enrolment firm Smart Pension, staging dates for those that employ even one carer is rapidly approaching – and yet many are still unaware of their responsibilities.

Smart Pension CEO and co-founder Andrew Evans said: “New legislation means that even those that employ a carer to help them around the house must offer a workplace pension.
“This applies if the carer is aged 22 or over and under state pension age, and is paid over £192 a week or £833 a month.

“If, however, care is provided by an agency, the agency is the employer and those receiving care don’t need to do anything.”
This month, the Government’s workplace pension scheme begins its two-year roll out to smaller firms.

It’s starting with firms that have 30 or under employees, and will move on in a descending order to the other 1.3 million small and micro companies and employers until 2017.

Over the next few months, the number of companies enrolling their staff is set to dramatically increase from around 10,000 per quarter to around 200,000.

Smart Pension’s system makes it possible to complete auto enrolment in under an hour on any device.

For more information on enrolling carers and pension responsibilities, go to https://www.autoenrolment.co.uk/tailored-solutions/home-help