The percentage of private sector employees in a workplace pension scheme increased from 26% in 2011 to 35% in 2013 according to research commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Employers Pension Provision survey shows that at the time of the research, 2% of private sector businesses had passed their staging dates. These firms accounted for 32% of all private sector employees.
The key findings are below:
- 65% of staged employers already had a workplace pension scheme set up when the reforms were passed
- Of these, 94% retained their schemes after staging and 92% did not change their contribution rates
- 12% of firms that had not yet reached their staging date already had members on a workplace scheme
- 59% of these expected to retain their current scheme
The report found that amongst employers yet to pass their staging dates, many did not have a workplace pension scheme in place and a sizeable portion were uncertain about their plans.
Opt out rates were also lower than predicted by the Government, at between 9 and 10%.
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