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The Automatic Enrolment (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

Type Ni-Statutory-Rule
Publication 2012-06-06
State In force
Jurisdiction Northern Ireland
Department Government Printer for Northern Ireland
Source legislation.gov.uk
articles Not indexed
Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 6th June 2012

Coming into operation in accordance with regulation 1(1)

The Department for Social Development makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 107A(15)(b) and 177(2) to (4) of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 , Articles 49(8) and 166(1) to (3) of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 , and now vested in it , and sections 2(3), 3(2), (5) and (6), 4(1) to (3) and (5), 5(4), (6) and (8), 6(1)(b) and (2), 7(5), 10, 11, 12, 15(1) and (2), 16(2), 22(4), 23(1)(b) and (c), (3) and (6), 24(1), 29(2) and (4), 30(5), (7A) and (8), 37(3), 38(2) to (4), 40(4), 41(4) and (5), 43(3), 52(3), 54(3), 59, 78 and 113(2) of the Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 .

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

Amendment of the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations

2

(2) In these Regulations “enrolment information” means the information described in paragraphs 1 to 15, 24 and 25 of Schedule 2 .

(24) (1) A notice under section 4(1) or (2) (postponement or disapplication of automatic enrolment) given by an employer (E) to the category of E's workers specified in Column 1 of the Table must be in writing and include the information described in the paragraphs of Schedule 2 specified in Column 2 of the Table against that category.

Table
Category of worker Paragraphs of Schedule 2
all workers 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25
all workers who are not active members of a qualifying scheme 18, 20, 21, 24, 25
all workers who are jobholders and who are not active members of a qualifying scheme 16, 20, 21, 24, 25
all workers who are not jobholders and are not active members of a qualifying scheme 17, 20, 21, 24, 25

(2) A notice given by E under section 4(3) to a worker who is a jobholder must be in writing and include the information described in the paragraphs of Schedule 2 specified in Column 2 of the Table against that category of worker. (3) For the purposes of section 4(5), the prescribed period is the period of one month beginning with the day after the starting day.

(27) Where the employer gives the jobholder the notice mentioned in section 30(3) (transitional period for defined benefits and hybrid schemes), that notice must— (a) be in writing; (b) be given at any time before the end of the period of one month beginning with the employer's first enrolment date, and (c) include the information described in paragraphs 16, 22, 24 and 25 of Schedule 2.

(a) in regulation 6 for paragraph (1) substitute— (1) An employer must meet the obligation in section 3(2) (automatic enrolment) by entering into arrangements with— (a) the trustees or managers of an automatic enrolment scheme which is a defined benefits scheme or a hybrid scheme, so that before the end of a period of one month beginning with the closure date a jobholder to whom section 3 applies becomes an active member of that scheme with effect from the closure date; (b) the trustees or managers of an automatic enrolment scheme which is a money purchase scheme, so that before the end of a period of one month beginning with the closure date a jobholder to whom section 3 applies becomes an active member of that scheme with effect from the automatic enrolment date, or (c) the provider of an automatic enrolment scheme which is a personal pension scheme, so that before the end of the period of one month beginning with the closure date the jobholder to whom section 3 applies receives information about the terms and conditions mentioned in paragraph (4). (aa) in regulation 6(2) and (4) for “paragraph (1)(b)”, in each place it occurs, substitute “ paragraph (1)(c) ”;

(b) all of the paragraph (b) quality requirements are met apart from the relevant benefit requirement (“requirement Y”), and

(b) the extent to which requirement Y is met as a proportion of— (i) where the requirement in subsection (4) of section 23 (test scheme) applies, the annual rate of pension specified in that subsection, or (ii) where a requirement in paragraph (4), (6) or (7) of regulation 39A applies, the sum of money to be made available for the provision of benefits as specified in the relevant paragraph.

(5) Where paragraphs (2) to (4) have effect in relation to a hybrid scheme of the relevant description, regulation 39 is to be read as if, for paragraph (5), there were substituted— (5) A scheme actuary or employer may not certify that a scheme satisfies the test scheme standard if the aggregate percentage referred to in regulation 43(3)(c) is less than 100 in relation to more than 10% of relevant members. (6) In this regulation “the relevant benefit requirement” means— (a) the requirements in subsection (4) of section 23 where that subsection applies, or (b) one of the requirements specified in regulation 39A where that regulation applies.

(47A) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of “provider” in section 78 (interpretation of Part), a provider is a person whose normal business includes the provision of personal pensions.

is— (a) where the contribution payable on behalf of an active member is paid to the trustees or managers of the scheme by means of an electronic communication, 22 days; or (b) in any other case, 19 days, commencing on the day following the last day of the month in which the amount is deducted from the earnings in question.

is the period of— (a) where the contribution payable under the direct payment arrangements is paid to the trustees or managers of the scheme by means of an electronic communication, 22 days, or (b) in any other case, 19 days, commencing on the day following the last day of the month in which the deduction was made from the employee's earnings.

Amendment of the Employers' Duties (Implementation) Regulations

3

(1) Where the conditions in paragraphs (3) and (4) are both satisfied, the employers' duties apply to an employer from the early automatic enrolment date referred to in paragraph (5).

(c) notified the Regulator accordingly in writing, at any time— (i) where paragraph (5)(a) applies, before the date specified in the second column of the Table corresponding to that earlier date; (ii) where paragraph (5)(b) applies, before 1st November 2012, or (iii) where paragraph (5)(c) applies, no later than the first day of the period of one month before the date specified in paragraph (5)(c).

(5) The early automatic enrolment date is— (a) any date in the third column of the Table which is earlier than the staging date corresponding to that employer's description; (b) 1st December 2012, or (c) in the case of an employer of 50,000 or more persons by PAYE scheme size or any other description, one of the following dates to be chosen by the employer— (i) 1st July 2012; (ii) 1st August 2012, or (iii) 1st September 2012.

Amendment of the Employers' Duties (Registration and Compliance) Regulations

4

(a) in relation to an occupational pension scheme (except a scheme established under section 67 of the Pensions Act 2008 )— (i) a reference given by the Regulator (R) to the trustees or managers of the scheme (T) following the provision of registrable information to R by T, and (ii) any reference provided to the employer by T evidencing the relationship between the employer and the scheme;

(ii) registered companies house number where one exists or, where such a number does not exist— (aa) the employer's industrial and provident society number; (bb) but if the number mentioned in sub-head (aa) does not exist, the employer's registered charity number; (cc) but if the number mentioned in sub-head (bb) does not exist, the employer's VAT registration number, if one exists;

(d) where the employer must arrange active membership of an automatic enrolment scheme under section 3(2)— (i) subject to head (iii), the number of jobholders automatically enrolled with effect from— (aa) the employer's staging date; (bb) where sub-head (aa) does not apply and the employer has not used a deferral date , the date the employers' duties first apply to the employer; (ii) if the employer uses more than one pension scheme under those arrangements, the number of jobholders who became active members of each pension scheme, and (iii) on the deferral date— (aa) the deferral date or the last such date where the employer uses more than one, and (bb) the number of jobholders automatically enrolled with effect from that date; (e) where an employer is subject to transitional arrangements under section 30 (transitional period for defined benefits and hybrid schemes), the number of jobholders to whom that section applies; (f) the number of workers in an employer's PAYE scheme who, immediately before whichever is applicable of— (i) the staging date, or (ii) the day on which the employers' duties first apply to the employer, were active members of a qualifying scheme or, if the employer uses more than one qualifying scheme to comply with the employers' duties, each of those schemes, and

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