'Potential pension paradox' at play at small firms

A potential pension paradox may be at play among small and micro business in the UK, according to new research. Despite 74 per cent failing to offer a workplace pension a majority (69 per cent) think that every worker in Britain should have access to a workplace pension scheme.That was the finding of NEST, which has carried out the work ahead of 45,000 small and micro businesses coming under the new workplace pension duties in 2015.This week marked two years since the introduction of auto-enrolment.Although the majority were supportive of workers having access to a workplace pension, when it comes to delivering automatic enrolment 30 per cent said they were most worried about ensuring everything is set-up correctly and that they are meeting the legal requirements.When asked what was most important to them in a pension scheme, employers said they were looking for a scheme that was straightforward and hassle-free to use (91 per cent).They also listed confidence for their staff that their money is safe (87 per cent). {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile} NEST chief executive Tim Jones said: "2015 sees a real shift; small and micro businesses who traditionally have no or little pension experience will be stepping up to the plate. This research suggests that despite very few offering a workplace pension there is a real desire to help their workers save for their retirement."Automatic enrolment is a massive helping hand in helping employers tackle this pension paradox. Employers say that one of the most important factors in setting up an automatic enrolment scheme is that it is straightforward and hassle-free to use." Meanwhile, the Auto Enrolment Advisory group have launched an online solution to help smaller businesses comply with regulation called AE in a box, which is designed to provide SME and micro employers with a low cost compliance solution.The group said it provided many of the services being ignored by existing programs in the SME market, including project management, employer and employee support, and a service which ensures that businesses are empowered with the information they need to continue to comply.Chris Daems, AEA group director, said: "We spent ages trying to work out how to structure a program which duplicated the service, and that would also be successful with larger businesses and then it hit us."Why not build a system designed to empower SME and Micro employers to comply with auto enrolment?""We believe that our solution will help ensure that small business owners up and down the land will be able to deal with auto enrolment compliantly, at a low cost, and with relative ease."

'Potential pension paradox' at play at small firms

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