Small employers ‘lack confidence on pension issues’
Less than a quarter of small and micro employers feel confident about dealing with pension issues and many expect to turn to accountants for help.
The findings come from research carried out by NEST (National Employment Savings Trust), a pension scheme that any employer can use to meet their new automatic enrolment duties.
The research, published on 12 November, revealed that 74 per cent of small and micro employers do not currently offer a pension to their workers and the same percentage say they want support from experts including accountants, Independent Financial Advisers or payroll providers. Of those who say they need support, 59 per cent expect to turn to accountants.
Around 60 per cent also said they expected they would need help with administration on an ongoing basis.
NEST said that 45,000 small and micro employers are due to stage – the official term for starting to automatically enrol eligible workers into qualifying workplace pension schemes – in 2015, suggesting that at least 33,000 firms would be seeking help from advisers next year.