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In the next few weeks, adverts fronted by Dragons’ Den star and entrepreneur Theo Paphitis will be broadcast across the country. They will tell smaller employers and their staff that automatic enrolment is right around the corner.
Over 47,000 large and medium-sized employers have already completed the process of automatically enrolling their workers. The focus has now shifted to the 1.3 million small and micro firms that will have to offer their staff a workplace pension between now and 2018.
Automatic enrolment is part of the Government’s long-term economic plan, helping working people to start saving into a pension.
Challenges
Minister of State for Pensions, Dr Ros Altmann said: "With more than five million people automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, we have made great strides forward in a short space of time, but there is still much hard work to do.
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"Our long-term economic plan gives working people the chance to get on at every stage of their lives. This includes the dignity of a job, the security of a paycheque and a decent, well-earned retirement."
Businessman and star of Dragon’s Den, Theo Paphitis, said: "It is less than three years since I first said that ‘I’m in’, and in that short period of time more than 5.2 million workers have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension.
"Automatic enrolment is proving to be a huge success, with clear long-term benefits for hardworking employees.
"Once they’re in, the overwhelming majority of people are choosing to stay in."
Micro businesses
Under automatic enrolment, employers and their employees, who are at least 22 and under State Pension age and earn more than £10,000 a year, make regular contributions to a workplace pension scheme, unless they choose actively to opt out. The Government also contributes through a tax-break.
The process of enrolling staff began with the UK’s largest businesses in 2012, and then moved to medium sized firms.
In June small and micro employers of between one and 49 workers started to automatically enroll their staff into a workplace pension. By the time the process is complete in 2018, up to nine million workers will be newly saving or saving more in workplace pensions.
Figures published earlier this year suggested that automatic enrolment is helping to turn around the decade-long decline in pension coverage, with 59 per cent of all employees now active members of a pension scheme, compared with just 47 per cent in 2012.
People have the right to opt out, but nine out of 10 are choosing to remain in with younger workers among the most likely to do so.
The campaign is launched with a series of adverts from July 6, 2015.
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2015
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