Pensions ñ Are employers doing enough?

A staggering 45% of all UK employers are breaking the law by failing to provide employees access to a stakeholder pension scheme.

This is the conclusion of a survey of over 1280 employers and advisers conducted by www.hrlaw.co.uk, the online employment service by City law firm, Fox Williams. The hrlaw survey revealed that whilst all of the respondents had 5 or more employees (which is the threshold for provision of access to a stakeholder pension scheme under the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000), only 55% of employers provided some sort of scheme for all or some of their employees.

Commenting on the findings Helen Monson, employment specialist at Fox Williams, says:
ìWe are surprised at the relatively high number of employers who face potential exposure by not implementing a stakeholder pension scheme for employees where suitable arrangements are not already in place under the Stakeholder Pension Schemes Regulations 2000.

Employers who are in breach of the Regulations may not be aware of their requirements or may simply (and, misguidedly, since there is currently no obligation to contribute to a stakeholder pension scheme, merely to facilitate access to it) be trying to save costs by not implementing a pension scheme. However, non-compliant employers should note that they may face a penalty of up to 50,000 for failure to comply with their obligation to provide access to a stakeholder schemeî