Pension auto-enrolment
7 December 2011
The Pensions Bill recently received Royal Assent and is set to transform UK pensions. From October 2012, larger employers will have to automatically enrol eligible employees into a qualifying workplace pension scheme. The aim is to encourage more workers to save for retirement.
Writing in Director of Finance Online, Standard Life cited this week that its research shows 82% of employees in the £18-45K earning range who would be auto-enrolled said they wouldn't opt out of the scheme if given clear information about its benefits. It also shows that auto-enrolment could create an additional six million pension savers, adding £12.5bn annually to retirement savings by 2017, helping to close the savings gap and ensuring more employees are saving for their retirement.
With the introduction of pensions auto-enrolment set to be the biggest change to employee benefits in 2012, People Management this week launched a short online film – HR Talk: Pension Auto-Enrolment. It features Graham Vidler (pictured), Director of Communication and Engagement at government-backed provider NEST, talking about the changes and what employers should be doing to prepare for them.