One of the key aspects of an employer’s pension scheme for autoenrolment is ensuring that you communicate effectively with your workforce.
The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has revealed their 8 Golden Rules:
1. Keep it real: Use examples people can relate to and avoid abstract concepts.
2. Rights not responsibility: Tell people what they’re entitled to not what they should be doing.
3. Out with the old: Make pensions relevant to their lives now and don’t focus on the details of retirement.
4. One for all: Make it clear automatic enrolment is happening to most workers, not just them.
5. Tell it like it is: Present the facts and avoid ‘spin’- people want to make up their own minds.
6. Give people control (even if they don’t use it): Tell people about their choices and not that everything’s done for them.
7. Take people as you find them: Give people access to information that matches their knowledge and interest.
8. Be constructive: Tell people about solutions, not problems or scare-stories.
Our opinion is that there’s no better time to start simplifying the pensions regime than right now. However, the 8 rules seem to be more about marketing and less about actually sorting out pensions legislation, of which the Pensions Act 2008 simply added to.
Simplification was previously attempted in 2006 – there were even exams for advisers on ‘pension simplification’ an terms such as ‘tax free cash’ were changed to become ‘pension commencement lump sum’ even though you didn’t have to ‘commence your pension’ to take the it.
Here’s the link to their research it you’re that interested. NEST cost £120million to set up, so hopefully you’ll think there is value to money in this research.
Please note that the earnings trigger for autoenrolment is now £8,105.
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