The majority of companies who have not yet already been captured under the umbrella of pension auto enrolment will do so in 2014. Even companies whose staging dates may be later this year or during 2015 may also be subsidiaries of larger groups and this is when implementation of auto enrolment could prove a significant disruption to the business.

The parent company may decide that as its staging date is earlier than its subsidiaries, all the group companies will need to auto enroll earlier than expected and this presents a number of logistical issues to the HR and finance departments of each business. A review of all employee payroll and financial IT systems, frequency of employee payments, payment dates, administrative procedures and transactional reporting is essential. As a consequence there may need to be changes to standardise systems and record keeping, as well as setting up a pension scheme with a third party plus the communication of the implementation. Adopting a scheme that will suit all employees, covering their age and attitude to risk with a degree of flexibility, is also something many smaller businesses under estimate.

The timescale for implementation in the above scenario is likely to be lengthy and it should be treated as a project sponsored by the owners and/or directors of the business.

Is your company ready?