The government today announced a revised timetable for the starting dates of auto-enrolment for employers of all sizes.

Following the announcement in November that auto-enrolment would be delayed for small businesses, the staging date for businesses with less than 30 members is from 1 January 2016 to 1 April 2017, while employers with 30 to 49 employees will have to start auto-enrolling their staff from 1 August 2015 to 1 October 2015.

Staging dates for the biggest firms have not been changed and auto-enrolment will therefore begin in October 2012. All existing firms will have enrolled their staff by April 2017, followed by all new employers by February 2018.

To help employers and individuals adjust, pension contributions will be phased in, with full contributions having to be paid from 1 October 2018.

Minister for Pensions Steve Webb said: “Automatic enrolment will begin on time this October, taking up to 10 million people into pension saving, many for the first time ever, and all employers will be part of it.

“We have done all we can to ease any burden on business the reforms will bring and employers of all sizes now know the date they need to start enrolling their staff.”

A consultation and draft regulations with more detailed information will be published shortly, the Department for Work and Pensions said.

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