The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement to provide clarity around workplace savings schemes, to help employers offer these with more confidence.
To help more employees benefit, the FCA has worked with partners to provide clarity on the rules around schemes, including how employers can avoid breaching national minimum wage rules. It also explains how providers can meet requirements around financial promotions.
According to the regulator, workplace savings schemes could help millions of people start saving regularly and build financial resilience. However, only 7% of UK employers currently offer them, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
The FCA’s Financial lives research, published in May 2025, found that one in 10 people have no cash savings, while one-fifth have less than £1,000 put aside for a rainy day.
Emad Aladhal, director of retail banking at the FCA, said: “Financial inclusion is a shared effort, which is why we’re teaming up with partners and playing our part to help businesses understand how to apply the rules for the benefit of consumers. This clarity should give employers greater confidence to offer savings schemes that can help people navigate their financial lives.”
The FCA statement tackles perceived regulatory barriers to implementing workplace savings schemes and provides guidance, including: how to avoid falling foul of national minimum wage legislation, whether employers would be undertaking a regulated activity for which they need FCA authorisation, and whether an employer would be making a financial promotion, i.e. inviting or inducing employees to engage in investment activity.
It also covers data protection issues that can arise when sharing employees’ personal information.
The FCA worked with the Treasury, the Money and Pensions Service, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to produce the statement, which focuses on opt-in workplace savings schemes.
Oliver Morley, chief executive of the Money and Pensions Service, said: “As shown by research we recently carried out with Nest Insight on opt-in and opt-out workplace savings, even a small amount set aside can provide financial resilience and peace of mind for employees.”
Richard Sweetman, senior consultant at employee benefits consultancy Broadstone, added: “Workplace savings schemes can play a vital role, complementing auto-enrolled pension programmes, to help employees improve their financial wellbeing.
“The FCA’s clarity around these schemes and ongoing collaboration with industry stakeholders to promote workplace savings is an important step. We hope to see more employers explore workplace savings plans to encourage regular saving from their employees. This can, ultimately, help reduce money worries by building financial resilience, leading to happier, more engaged and more productive employees in the workplace.”
