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The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued a checklist that provides trustees with an overview of what they might need to do to ensure that their scheme is ready to be used for automatic enrolment.

From next year, the UK's largest employers will have to enrol all eligible workers into a qualifying pension scheme, with medium and small employers following in 2013 and beyond.  It is anticipated that most schemes will not need to undergo substantial alterations in order to qualify.  Eventually, automatic enrolment will affect all UK employers.

Charles Counsell, TPR interim executive director for employer compliance, said: “There are a large number of good quality occupational schemes and we anticipate many will be adapted for automatic enrolment.  This checklist helps trustees understand how to manage changes to their scheme and ensure it’s ready in good time.”

The checklist for trustees follows the regulator’s educational materials aimed at larger employers and their advisers, including detailed guidance, a five-page summary of the new duties and a five-step action checklist.

Susannah Hines, TPR’s trustee propositions manager said: “For trustees, like employers, it’s important to know when these changes will take effect.  Once trustees know their employer’s staging date they can assess what impact automatic enrolment will have, put in place a timetable for implementing any changes, and consider how to communicate these changes to scheme members.”