Business News
Pension changes are coming for SME’s
New research into the pensions offered out to employees at SME’s has found that nearly half (46%) of the 1,500 small businesses surveyed do not offer a current company pension scheme for their employees.
Sage carried out the survey and also found that a third of them at 33% are actually unaware of their responsibility to provide a pension scheme following the changes to the Pensions Act, and that 54% unwittingly believe that they will have no impact on their business at all and thus no need for change. Changes will in fact impose a compulsory minimum 3% contribution from the employer to the member’s salary and will be required to enrol staff automatically into a qualifying pension scheme. Where this isn’t possible, employees must be enrolled into Nest, the new National Employment Savings Trust that is being introduced by the Government as a low cost easy to use pension scheme for this purpose.
The largest of the SME’s will be brought into the changes first from October 2012, with the smallest joining no later than September 2016 to phase the process in, as will contributions from staff and employers.
Kathryn Shankland, product manager in Sage's Small Business division has said, “Business owners need to understand how and when this new reform will impact their firm.”
“Even companies that already offer a pension scheme to their employees may still need to change processes, as there is a new minimum requirement that all pensions must adhere to.”
She went on to state, “If business owners are aware of the changes early enough and factor them into their plans and forecasts, it’s possible for firms to continue to grow their business and provide support for their employee’s futures.”
