Act now to find out about pensions for domestic staff

If you are an employer of between 1 and 49 staff, which is likely if you employ a nanny, cleaner, housekeeper or carer, you should have received a letter from The Pensions Regulator informing you of your duty with respect to enrolling your staff into a pension scheme and making contributions to their pension.  There are over 750,000 employers in the UK in this category, many of whom do not realise that they fall within the legislation introduced with the Pensions Act 2008.

For smaller employers, the UK government is implementing automatic enrolment of all staff into a pension scheme over the period from 1 June 2015 to 1 April 2017.  Your staging date, the date when you must enrol your staff into a pension scheme, will be detailed in the letter you have received from The Pensions Regulator.

As an employer, you can find plenty of information about your duties and how to fulfil them from The Pensions Regulator at www.thepenionsregulator.gov.uk.

There are many pension providers who can help you in setting up a pension scheme.  The government itself has set up NEST, the National Employment Savings Trust, specifically to make it easier for employers to access a workplace pension scheme that meets the requirements of the new pension rules.  You can find out more at www.nestpensions.org.uk.

Alternatively, you may wish to speak with your own financial or pensions adviser.