Pensions auto-enrolment need not be like drawing teeth
The process of responsible pensions’ provision can be a ‘nightmare’ to some specialist employers, highlights Mark Dyer of Petaurum Solutions, but with the three years’ restaging cycle upon us, the doors have been reopened.
Whether, or not, your dental practice has dealt with its pensions’ issues, a fresh opportunity is arising in which to refine your forward plans. Well-publicised, auto-enrolment has provided a positive situation that is beneficial to all colleagues and demonstrates ample commitment to them that a surgical practice possesses a positive future.
Naturally, having to deal with the complexities of pension funding, processing and maximising of investments creates the nightmare scenarios that, to be frank, you should not have to worry about. While systems are in place, reading through the statutory documentation is not exactly a life-affirming activity, regardless of the ultimate benefits.
Our company, Petaurum Solutions Ltd, is set-up to relieve you of the burdens related to auto-enrolment. As exponents of both public and private sector HR and outsourcing, Petaurum has not only led many change management projects but has also developed systems and programs that meet our clients’ needs head-on. We possess a wealth of knowledge and human skills that can break down the barriers related to pensions provision.
We comply thoroughly with the remit established by Team Schein, a company from within your own profession that is a proven light in the field of corporate citizenship and responsibility. It has driven pensions implementation to new pinnacles around the dental scene that are both admirable and border on enviable.
Of course, both time availability and possessing the necessary skill-set to effect any introductions, or re-enrolment processes, may be in short supply, which is where we can step in and make it happen. Not to do so can become unsettling. Not to effect the right principles can wreak havoc on practice confidence, from more than the obvious perspectives. Ignoring pensions issues and auto-enrolment is simply not an answer, which makes Petaurum’s role all the more valuable to you, in both short and longer terms.
There are innumerable websites providing core information on the subject. Yet, be aware that there is a legal responsibility to comply with pensions law, even though it is up to the individual whether he, or she, remains in the system. Your practice manager should have already received detailed letters from the pensions regulator.
Implementing a system, whether by automatic, or manual, individual means should be a priority. Selecting the most appropriate method will demand that some time be set aside to make the arrangements. Of course, this will involve checking out the provider’s fees and also the detail of their investments. After all, your practice colleagues will be looking for the best possible yields, to safeguard their pension payments.
Intriguingly, the provision is relevant to all staff and colleagues, even including specialists, or hygienists, who may only work within your practice for one day a week. Those people still need to be assessed and enrolled on your particular scheme, which further underscores the importance of establishing a sound communications medium.
While not wishing to aim threats in any direction, not to implement a pensions provision will be countered by hefty fines from the regulator. As a result, auto enrolment is already recognised as the more cost-effective approach to take. Our company has already developed a bespoke programme for dental practices, which helps you to comprehend it, as well as be covered by a Defaqto ‘Five-Star’ rated pension scheme.
None of the available information should be scary in any way, although, in typical governmental style, the use of fifty words, where one might suffice, does make understanding it a time-consuming and occasionally complex process. You are a dental specialist. You deal professionally with the NHS and your customers both private and state-supported. Dealing with pensions is no different.
Petaurum is a professional service provider. We are dealing with suppliers professionally on a daily basis, at the highest levels. Pensions provision, or at very least the facilitation of it, is our business. Naturally, there are no short-cuts and neither morally, nor legally, would we expect there to be any but we not only possess the necessary skills to help you in the most positive manner, we can also ensure that your pension provision is managed in the most agreeable manner.
No longer is it the employee’s, or partner’s, right to access a pension, because auto enrolment demands that ALL employees are enrolled, on a properly assessed basis, to a pension scheme. In the past, it was up to the employer to determine whether an individual was entitled to a pension and even the amount of financial contribution being made. Since the changes were introduced to the Pensions Act in 2008 and employers in the UK and Northern Ireland started to enrol their staff on workplace schemes since 2012, a safeguarded means to an end has been created.
By engaging with Petaurum, you can ensure that your practice squares up to its legal responsibilities.