The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation seeking views on proposals to improve the automatic enrolment process particularly around flexibility on pay reference periods.

In the public consultation entitled ‘Technical Changes to Automatic Enrolment' which runs until 7 May, the Department for Work and Pensions is seeking views on proposals to improve the automatic enrolment operation for employers and pension providers. It stated that it “wants to make it easier for employers to use existing payroll processes to determine whether a worker is a jobholder or an eligible jobholder”. It is proposing to add a new way to determine a pay reference period allowing employers the option of using periods already recognised by established payroll software.

Other proposals include lifting the requirement for people to be automatically enrolled if they have recently been put in their company pension scheme and have left it and asking wider questions about whether the process can be made easier for some employers, whose approach already meets the aims of automatic enrolment or who offer a defined benefit scheme.

Minister for pensions Steve Webb said: “We promised we’d listen to those employers who were first to automatically enrol their staff into a workplace pension. These proposals are to make sure that parts of the legislation work better and are more user-friendly. We are also asking for suggestions on how we could recognise the best employers.

“Employers and our partners in the pensions and payroll industry have made a major contribution in delivering these landmark reforms. We want to build on this as medium-sized employers prepare to automatically enrol their staff into a workplace pension.”

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