Nearly three-quarters (70%) of employer respondents have yet to take ation around the pension reforms that come into force from April 2015, according to research by Jelf Employee Benefits.
Its research, which surveyed 250 employers, also found that only 7% of respondents have both reviewed their offering and sent employee communications to explain the impact of this regulatory change, which will allow employees over the age of 55 to access all defined contribution savings as they see fit.
Only 8% of employer respondents have received an approach from employees on this topic.
The research also found that 63% of respondents welcome the proposals but more than half of this group are also concerned about potential increased administration and employer costs.
In comparison, 15% do not welcome the change of legislation.
Steve Herbert (pictured), head of benefits strategy at Jelf Employee Benefits, said: “This is probably the biggest single change to the pensions landscape in a lifetime and is supposedly driven by the desire of savers to have much greater access and flexibility regarding their retirement savings.
“Yet awareness of this issue currently seems frighteningly low. We are concerned that both employers and employees need to be better educated on this important topic.
“Without such education many older employees could make ill-informed decisions regarding their pension savings”
