The Government has urged UK workers to check the pensions options offered by their employer.
The call came after government figures revealed there are approximately 4.5 million people who have access to company pension schemes, but have not joined them.
Where an employer makes a contribution to the scheme, these individuals are missing out on a significant employee benefit, said pensions minister Malcolm Wicks.
“Millions of people, particularly young people, are not paying into a pension scheme, even when they have access to a company scheme where the employer also contributes,” he said. “Missing out on an employer contribution is much like turning down a pay rise.”
A report from the Pensions Commission last year set out the stark challenges UK organisations and their staff face in providing for increasingly long retirements, underlining the message that people must save more for their old age.
HR departments will play a key role in ensuring workers are saving more for their retirement, experts believe, with communicating the benefits of pension contributions at the top of the agenda.
