UK - The Pension Regulator (TPR) has launched a new campaign to help companies to introduce workplace pension schemes, following the new regulation in the UK.

The Pension Regulator is currently writing to the UK's biggest companies, alerting them to their new pension duties, which will be introduced on a gradual or staged basis according to employer size.

The regulator has also launched a guide that covers all aspects of workplace pension reform legislation and is designed to be suitable for large employers with experience of providing pensions, advisers and intermediaries.

Additionally, new interactive tools will be available later this year to help small companies without previous experience with pensions.

A trustee checklist will also be published for trustees of existing schemes. This checklist will set out some of the issues that should be taken into account when existing pension schemes are considered for automatic enrollment.  

Bill Galvin, chief executive at TPR, said: "We urge every employer to check the approximate date they must comply. The date will vary between October 2012 and February 2016, depending on employer size."

The regulator anticipates that most of the new employees will be enrolled in defined contribution (DC) pension schemes, and that 5m-8m new members will join this type of plan over the next five years. 

TPR chair Michael O'Higgins said: "Though the majority of employers will choose to automatically enroll their employees into a DC scheme, defined benefit (DB) schemes will remain a major part of the picture - and will be paying out benefits for many decades to come."

Commenting on TPR's campaign, Joanne Segars, chief executive at the National Association of Pension Funds, said: "Employers and pension schemes urgently need certainty to adapt to the new rules. The regulator's campaign is a first step.

"It is vital that the government and the regulator use every single opportunity to provide that. The success of these pivotal reforms depends on that."

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