Auto-enrolment retains support from majority of employers and employees

Aviva’s Working Lives report shows both employers and employees have continued to welcome the Government’s decision to introduce auto-enrolment for company pension schemes.

Three in five employers (61%) in Q1 2016 agree with making the workplace the focus for automatic pension savings – a slight increase from 58% in Q1 2013. Approval rises to 74% among those who have begun auto-enrolment, indicating that the initiative has largely been well received to date.

A significant 93% of staff who have experienced auto-enrolment say the process was straightforward. This is particularly positive given that just 55% of employers who have started the process share this view, falling further to 24% among small firms.

Nevertheless, the biggest reported effects of auto-enrolment to date are both positive. One in four (25%) employers who have auto-enrolled staff say the biggest effect has been to modernise their pension scheme, while one in five (20%) say the biggest effect has been to allow them to provide better pensions for more employees.

This contrasts with the views of those firms yet to begin their auto-enrolment journey. Alongside providing better pensions for more employees (13%), the biggest effect they anticipate is passing on the cost to customers (13%). A similar proportion (12%) are concerned about limiting the size of salary increases.