Pensions watchdog receives complaints about opting out

The number of complaints received by the pensions’ watchdog accusing employers of attempting to persuade staff to opt out of saving for retirement, increased by 68% last year, new figures have found.

The data, revealed The Pensions Regulator (TPR) received 64 reports between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 alleging that employers had attempted to persuade employees to opt out of their pension scheme and this is up from 38 in the year before.

It is an offence for employers to attempt to induce an employee who is eligible to be enrolled into a workplace pension to opt out.

This April, the minimum contribution rates under pensions auto-enrolment rose from 2% to 5%, with the proportion employers contribute increasing from 1% to 2%.

The research also showed a low level of awareness around auto-enrolment. Of those eligible for auto-enrolment who thought they had not yet been enrolled into a scheme, 91% had been which demonstrates that employers are failing to communicate effectively with their staff in this subject!