Half of the employers surveyed fear that the cost of compliance for automatic enrolment would be up to 10% of their payroll. In addition, half stated that the additional administrative burden caused by the duty is likely to be their greatest challenge.
The study also showed 57% of respondents said that their organisation did not anticipate recouping from workers the extra costs associated with automatic enrolment from workers.
Teresa Dolan, partner at Eversheds, said: "While the Government's aim with the introduction of automatic enrolment is to encourage more people to save for their retirement, there will be an inevitable source of friction in workplaces when employers explain to eligible workers that they cannot opt out in advance of being automatically enrolled."
She added: "Our survey findings confirm the significant cost and administrative burdens of complying with automatic enrolment."
Last Thursday the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) published the timetable for automatic enrolment, estimating that 380,000 workers would be signed up in October alone. The DWP estimated that 380,000 workers would be signed up in October, a total of 420,000 will be enrolled by the end of November and 600,000 will be in place by the end of the year.The enrolment peak is expected to be next spring. Overall, 11 million people will be eligible.
Eversheds conducted the survey in July.
