The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has launched an online tool to make it easier for employers to re-enrol their staff into workplace pension schemes.

The regulator said that although the majority of employers successfully re-enrol their staff, some are failing to complete the task correctly, which could lead to a fine.

Therefore, the new re-enrolment tool is being launched by the regulator to make it easier for the thousands of small and micro employers that have their re-enrolment dates in the coming months.

TPR director of automatic enrolment Darren Ryder said: “Re-enrolment gives staff who opted out of their workplace pension a fresh chance to start saving so it’s an important task. Automatic enrolment has led to millions of new savers and we want to ensure this success continues. Our online re-enrolment tool will help employers continue to meet their legal duties so that staff continue to have the opportunity to save.”

Re-enrolment must be carried out every three years and it is a two-stage process. Firstly, employers must check whether they have any staff to re-enrol and ensure those who are eligible are put back into a pension scheme. They must then complete and submit their re-declaration of compliance. So far, more than 176,000 employers have completed their re-declaration of compliance showing TPR how they have met their re-enrolment duties.

Low opt-out rates mean the majority of employers will not have staff to re-enrol, however they must still complete their re-declaration of compliance to confirm they have checked whether they need to re-enrol any of their staff, even if none were re-enrolled. This is a legal requirement and failure to both assess and re-enrol eligible staff and make a declaration could result in a fine.

The launch of the new re-enrolment tool comes at the same time as new TPR research shows business advisers continue to play a vital role in helping employers meet their automatic enrolment duties. The Adviser Engagement with Automatic Enrolment Survey 2019 shows more than 92 per cent of advisers assist their small business clients with automatic enrolment.

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