Workplace pension enrolments hit one million

The figures have been released by The Pensions Regulator and found that more than 600,000 employers have complied with their duties in the past year alone.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the deadline is approaching for the remaining 150,000 employers, including new businesses set up since the government scheme was launched, to enrol their staff by June 2018.

Guy Opperman, minister for pensions and financial inclusion, said: “With one million employers – from the small sandwich shop owner to the large supermarket chain – now enrolling their staff into a workplace pension, we are creating a nation of responsible employers who are reassuring their workforce that with their support, they will have a secure retirement.

“Clearly this would not have been possible without the hard work and continued support of employers across the UK. That is why we are committed to working closely with them to prepare for our recently announced proposals which will ensure even more people, including 18 to 21-year olds, lower earners and multiple job holders, can benefit from a workplace pension in the future.”

DWP also said that since automatic enrolment was launched in 2012, there have been staging dates gradually bringing existing employers and their staff into workplace pensions, starting with the UK’s largest employers, and getting down to the smallest ones today.

Research recently published by DWP highlighted how workplace pensions have become the new normal, revealing that small and micro employers are finding automatic enrolment easier to implement than first expected.

In addition, four in five of today’s eligible workers (83 percent) now see saving through a workplace pension as the normal thing to do if you are in paid employment.

DWP said, at current, to be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, you must be aged 22 to State Pension age and earn at least £10,000 per year. In return for employees contributing a minimum of one percent of their pay, employers will at least match it, with most savers also benefiting from tax relief on their contributions.

It added that with contribution rates set to increase to five percent in April 2018 and eight percent in April 2019, savers will see every penny going further as, thanks to compound interest, the earlier people save the more they will earn.