Membership
3.1 Clause 3/Clause 4: Automatic Enrolment
Subsection 6 of Clause 3 refers to the automatic enrolment date as
the first date on which the jobholder is within the necessary age range. While the Bill indicates that the date of
enrolment is the date on which the jobholder reaches the age of 22, Clause 4
suggests that this may be varied subject to regulation. It would be
beneficial to understand the circumstances in which certain regulations would
apply, as it is important that the Personal Accounts structure remains simple
for the employer and the employee. It is important to the design that the
variable circumstances are controlled to ensure that the Personal Account
principles of low cost and simplicity are met.
3.3 Clause 7: Jobholder's right to opt out
Clause 7 establishes the right of a jobholder who has been
automatically enrolled into an enrolment scheme to opt out of that membership
by providing a signed notice. We
would suggest that any such notice is provided to the relevant scheme
administrator to avoid imposing a burden on the employer. The employee would
also be less open to coercion to opt out by employers.
Given the reference in paragraph 7 (2) to the "prescribed period" we
suggest that the Bill confirm that an employer is under no duty to effect a
contribution for an automatically enrolled jobholder prior to the end of the
prescribed period in respect of that jobholder. We believe this would minimise erroneous payments, thus
minimising the overall administrative burden for both employers and scheme
administrators. It would also provide
simplicity for jobholders.
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