Leading reward professionals have a good understanding of the new pension obligations that will come into effect in October 2012.
In an interactive poll during the opening keynote session, 20% of delegates said they were very familiar with their obligations, and 53% said they had a broad understanding but needed to familiarise themselves more. A further 27% were aware of the changes, but not of the details.
Under the reforms, employers will have to automatically enrol staff into a qualifying pension and make compulsory contributions. Personal accounts will also come in, into which staff can be enrolled in place of an occupational plan.
Understanding of the legislation may have been hampered by confusion over some reforms. Graham Vidler, director of corporate services at the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (Pada), said that to counter such misconceptions, Pada is to launch a comprehensive communications campaign.
"One of the problems we have is not only that people are not aware they need to do something, but they are actively avoiding it," said Vidler.