More than eight million sign up for workplace pension

More than eight million UK employees have now signed up for a workplace pension since the launch of auto-enrolment.

This is ahead of the initial target of around eight million.

The latest declaration of compliance report by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) reveals the eight million milestone has already been reached – with hundreds of thousands more employers still to enrol staff over the coming months.

Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, said: “Reaching this eight million figure is a formidable achievement and represents a huge number of people on the path to a more financially secure retirement.

“But we cannot be complacent and as contribution rates rise we know there is more to be done. That’s why our automatic enrolment review, which will report back later this year, is so vital to the future of this life-changing policy.”

TPR’s report shows that, at the end of June, nearly 8.2million workers were saving for their retirement in a workplace pension as a direct result of auto-enrolment.

One every 15 seconds

Last month alone, 168,000 people gained workplace pensions because of auto-enrolment – the equivalent of almost one every 15 seconds.

This came as 44,328 more UK employers declared that they had completed their workplace pension responsibilities, bringing the total number to 642,454.

Employers continue to have ongoing duties after they have declared their compliance with the automatic enrolment rules. But TPR has just published research that showed most find meeting their ongoing duties easier than they had expected. Most micro employers interviewed said they spent only half an hour a month completing their duties.

Darren Ryder, TPR's director of automatic enrolment, said: “Tens of thousands more people every week are signing up to a new workplace pension through automatic enrolment.
"Employers are continuing to become compliant and to remain so, allowing their staff to get the pensions they are entitled to.

“There are more than 500,000 more employers whose duties are still to begin over the coming months. I would urge each and every one of them to check today that they know what they need to do and when they need to do, it so they can seek our help if they need it.”

The first workers were automatically enrolled into pension schemes in 2012, starting with the largest employers. The policy was introduced to address under-saving, with millions of workers not putting aside enough for retirement and only one in three private-sector workers paying into a workplace pension.

Auto-enrolment experts

Auto-enrolment affects all employers in the UK.

We've already helped small and medium enterprises of all s prepare for auto-enrolment and we continue to help by providing cost effective solutions.

To find out how Aberdein Considine can help your business, click here.