​Registration is now open for employers ahead of the rollout of the new pension auto-enrolment scheme, My Future Fund, which begins on 1 January.

Through the employer portal on the My Future Fund website, businesses can register their company details and set up a payment method. The portal will remain open at all times, but employers are strongly encouraged to complete registration in advance so they are ready to begin making contributions when the scheme launches.

If an employer has not completed the company profile or set up a payment method before contributions fall due, they may be exposed to fines, penalties and potential prosecution.

My Future Fund is designed to help around 750,000 workers start saving for their retirement. All employees who are not already in an occupational pension scheme, are aged between 23 and 60 and earn over €20,000 across all of their employments will be automatically enrolled in the scheme.

The scheme will be phased in over ten years. Employer and employee contributions will start at 1.5 per cent and will increase every three years by 1.5 per cent until they reach 6 per cent by year ten. The State will top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee. This State top-up is on top of the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer.

Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled, but after six months of participation, they will have the option to opt out or to suspend participation. Ireland is the last OECD country to introduce an auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme of this kind.

A new body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA), has been established to run the system. While some employers have voiced concerns about the administrative burden of the scheme, the Government has stated that NAERSA will manage the majority of the work.

NAERSA will identify and enrol eligible employees, manage opt-ins, opt-outs and suspensions, calculate contributions and notify employers of amounts due through payroll. It will receive payroll data from Revenue and use it to run eligibility checks. When an employee meets all of the eligibility criteria, NAERSA will enrol them and send an updated Automatic Enrolment Payroll Notification (AEPN) to the employer’s payroll to confirm their enrolment.

For more information, see Citizens Information.

Originally Reported on RTE News