The proposals in the Government's 2006 White Paper on Personal Accounts, the aim of which is to introduce "soft compulsion" into workplace pension provision, are gradually coming to fruition.

The Pensions Bill 2007 (published on 12 December 2007), finally became the Pensions Act 2008 on 26 November 2008. It focuses on the new employer duties to auto-enrol employees and make contributions to a pension scheme on their behalf. Additionally, the Act lays the framework for how Personal Accounts (the Government-procured vehicle) will operate.

Consultation around the detail has now begun in earnest. So far these have covered the Personal Accounts’ charging structure, method of securing an income in retirement, scheme order and rules and investment (including the default fund option), as well as the automatic enrolment and opt-out process that all employers will be required to comply with. Consultation on the outstanding issues, including re-enrolment and opt-ins, the staging and phasing of the new requirements, qualifying schemes criteria and certification, as well as elements of the compliance regime will be covered in subsequent consultations, expected in the autumn of this year.

The anticipated target date for implementation of Personal Accounts and the new employer duties is October 2012. However, as the basic features are now in place and unlikely to change and the detail becomes unveiled, it is not too early for employers to start considering the implications of the proposals - in particular, their potential impact on pension and wider total remuneration costs.

This website sets out how the Act might impact on employers and trustees and explains the rationale for requiring a Government-procured vehicle and the framework in which it will operate.