Survey Results Revealed: Auto enrolment proving unpopular with FDs

Auto enrolment proving unpopular with FDs

WIth fines already issued to the first wave of non-compliers and the government mailing out more than a million further reminders, finance directors are reporting that auto enrolment has become more of a burden than an asset.

An extensive UK-wide survey also found that while many FDs found their own company’s progress to be behind schedule, most reckoned they were about on a par with other similar businesses.

The findings come from the 2015 FD Recruit auto enrolment survey, distributed to hundreds of top FDs throughout the country across a range of industries.

The survey found that a majority of finance directors (74%) had a negative view of auto enrolment. Almost half (46%) were behind their own schedules – though most believe they will hit their staging dates – but, of these, 83% believed other businesses in similar situations were also making poor progress.

Finance directors believe that the burden placed on their companies is more than they had hoped for or expected.

Around six in ten (58%) said that they felt their employees had little awareness or enthusiasm for auto enrolment and around seven in ten (71%) said that auto enrolment duties were a distraction from their core work.

Phil Scott, director of FD Recruit, said: “The two clear findings from this survey are that FDs appear to begrudge the impact of auto enrolment on their workload, but on the other hand the work is still being undertaken and those deadlines will be hit.

“Auto enrolment is a hugely resource-intensive scheme for many businesses and expands far beyond accounting – it impacts upon HR, software and more. It is a major challenge for FDs this year, but one they are ready to face.”