The vast majority of UK employees now saving into a workplace pension

01 Oct The vast majority of UK employees now saving into a workplace pension

According to a new report published by The Pensions Regulator, the vast majority of staff in UK workplaces are now saving for their retirement thanks to the success of automatic enrolment.

Workplace saving continues to rise with 84% of employees now saving into a workplace pension, up from 77% in 2017. The report also shows that as auto enrolment reaches a “steady state”, about 100,000 new businesses each year will be putting staff into a workplace pension scheme as soon as they employ them.

Introducing the report, Darren Ryder, Director of Automatic Enrolment said: “It has been another busy year, and we continue to make sure that AE remains business as usual for employers, helping them with any issues they might have, and working to make sure that they don’t evade their duties. Our ultimate goal is that employees receive the pension benefits they’re entitled to under law.”

“So, with all employers now in the picture and the majority feeling that AE is the norm, our attention focuses on brand new employers ensuring they are complying with their legal duties.

“At the end of March 2018, more than 9.5 million workers had been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, and 1.1 million employers had completed their declarations of compliance. Only a year earlier it was half a million employers.”

Other highlights of the report include:

• The total amount saved into a pension by eligible staff in 2017 was £90.3 billion, up from £86 billion last year.
• 98% of schemes used for automatic enrolment are defined contribution (DC) schemes compared to 97% last year.
• The majority of employers spend less than two hours a month on their ongoing duties and find them easier than they expected.
• The cost of business advisers for employers with between one and four staff has fallen from £42 to £18 since the previous survey. Around two-thirds of employers do not use external advisers.

With thanks for Smart Pension for the above article.