The People Bulletin

New research, which the NAPF has called, “woeful and deeply worryingly”, has revealed that one in three people accept a new job with no idea about the pension provided – an oversight which is typically worth thousands of pounds each year.

In addition to this the research also showed that: 

• 25% started their first day in a new job without knowing if a pension was on offer; and
• 6% signed the employment contract still unaware of the pension provision. 

Joanne Segars, chief executive at the NAPF, said:

“It’s deeply worrying that so many people start a new job clueless about whether a pension is on offer. And sadly employers aren’t doing enough to help them.

“Britain is facing a crisis when it comes to saving enough for its retirement. People need to wake up to the fact that some workplace pensions are worth a huge chunk of annual pay.

“Jobseekers need to know whether a pension is on offer, and they need to be aware as early as possible so that they can make an informed decision”.

Mention the pension

Further research carried out by the NAPF showed that only 8% of job adverts contained information regarding the pension on offer and only 0.7% actually contained details on the level of employer contribution – this compares to 68% of adverts which contained information on the salary being offered.

Segars adds, “employers have got to do more to ‘mention the pension’ and they must be more explicit in disclosing its terms. They should specify the type of pension and the employer contribution, which might be anything from zero to well over 20% of annual salary.

“Auto-enrolment into a pension from 2012 means it is even more important for employers to start being more upfront about their pension.

“Those who are offering pensions above the minimum auto-enrolment requirements have a clear interest in shouting about it to attract the best staff”. 

Note: The survey questioned 896 employees.

 www.napf.co.uk/PressCentre/Press_releases/0133_One_in_three_starts_a_job_clueless_about_its_pension.aspx

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