Automatic enrolment into a pension scheme, due to come into force in 2012, will cost small businesses thousands of pounds per year, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned.
From 2017, all companies and their staff will have to be fully enrolled into a pension scheme and business owners will have to pay a minimum of three per cent of an employee's salary into a pension. Consequently, the average small firm – those with four employees earning an average salary of £25,000 – will pay at least an extra £2,550 per year in administration and pension costs.
APA has called for micro-businesses to be made exempt from the automatic enrolment scheme, as it will cost them time and money they simply cannot afford. And while measures have been put in place to make the administrative burden easier for small businesses – such as introducing a three-month buffer period - APA is concerned that they do not go far enough.
Gareth Osborne commented: "It is vital that everyone is able to save for their future but the automatic enrolment scheme is going to cost smaller businesses dearly. The true administrative costs are as yet unknown and could be high. We will be watching this closely as the scheme develops."
From 2017, all companies and their staff will have to be fully enrolled into a pension scheme and business owners will have to pay a minimum of three per cent of an employee's salary into a pension. Consequently, the average small firm – those with four employees earning an average salary of £25,000 – will pay at least an extra £2,550 per year in administration and pension costs.
APA has called for micro-businesses to be made exempt from the automatic enrolment scheme, as it will cost them time and money they simply cannot afford. And while measures have been put in place to make the administrative burden easier for small businesses – such as introducing a three-month buffer period - APA is concerned that they do not go far enough.
Gareth Osborne commented: "It is vital that everyone is able to save for their future but the automatic enrolment scheme is going to cost smaller businesses dearly. The true administrative costs are as yet unknown and could be high. We will be watching this closely as the scheme develops."
APA
No comments:
Post a Comment