EXCLUSIVE: Under auto-enrolment legislation, employers are required to re-enrol employees into a pension scheme every three years. Many employers have used this as a lever to expand their communications strategy. For example, 34% of respondents have introduced, or plan to introduce, wider communications around pensions and retirement saving, while 23% said the same for financial education, according to research by Employee Benefits.
The Employee Benefits/Wealth at Work Pensions research 2019, which was conducted during October 2019 among 135 HR decision makers, also found that the cost of automatic re-enrolment is still a major concern for employers. Along with the introduction of wider communications plans, this has taken the top spot in this list consistently since 2016, when the question was first asked.
However, while one-third (34%) still see increased costs as a primary impact, this is a considerable reduction from the 50% that said the same in 2018. As in 2018, other popular options are to bring in additional systems to help them comply with requirements, as cited by 26% of respondents, while 20% said they have reviewed, or plan to review, their pensions communications strategy.
Click to download the Employee Benefits/Wealth at Work Pensions research 2019