Research has shown that that many employees are deterred from joining a company pension scheme, because employers do not encourage them. Numerous people had never been asked to join, or had to wait for years to be eligible to contribute.
Age Concern has called on firms to make it easier for employees to pay into a scheme.
Our view
A dangerous one this. With effect April 2001, new Stakeholder pension laws came into force requiring all employers with five or more staff if they did not already offer a pension scheme to establish one. Part of the requirements was that all employers had to provide reasonable access to pension information for their employees.
Employers have to be very careful if they are not being reasonable with information they supply to employees about their pension scheme.