B&CE, the workplace pension provider to 1.6 million people in the UK, today announces details of a framework to work alongside Scottish Widows. This new framework will enable employers with a diverse workforce to put in place a pension proposition that is right for all their employees without the administrative burden of offering two schemes. The People’s Pension, B&CE’s automatic enrolment solution, combined with the Scottish Widows Group Personal Pension will offer a single process and interface.
B&CE continues to work towards removing as much of the compliance burden that automatic enrolment brings and enabling employers to concentrate on runningtheir business. Working together, B&CE and Scottish Widows will offer employers a seamless solution that meets the needs of all sections of theirworkforce. The framework easily accommodates transfers in and out and automatically moves employees between The People’s Pension and Scottish Widows as their eligibility changes.
As a result of today’s announcement, employers with a diversified workforce will be able to put in a place an appropriate pension proposition for their entire workforce through a single process and interface, thereby reducing the administrative burden of operating two schemes under automatic enrolment.
B&CE has been helping people in the construction industry save for their retirement for over thirty years. Scottish Widows proposition complements The People’s Pension with shared aims in providing the best outcomes for employees at retirement combined with a quality service for employers. By working together, B&CE and Scottish Widows can offer advisers and employers a seamless solution.
B&CE is already helping its customers with automatic enrolment through its employer assistance program that allows employers to assess their workforce, estimate the minimum contributions they will need to pay, and manage on-going administration, including opt outs and opt ins. B&CE is also ensuring customers are kept up to date with information on regulations as well as technical support to help employers understand and implement their obligations under automatic enrolment. A range of communication channels and materials are also available to help employers engage effectively with their employees, as well as ensure their workforce has easy access to information they require.
This arrangement builds upon B&CE’s decision in November 2011 to launch an automatic enrolment solution for all – and one that is suitable for any size of organisation and in any sector. The introduction of The People’s Pension is a result of its customers wanting to use B&CE’s workplace pension solution across other, more diversified and non-construction parts of their businesses.
Commenting on the announcement, Paul Murphy, Director of Customer Development, B&CE said: “We are delighted to be working with such a well-respected organisation. We believe that B&CE and Scottish Widows have shared values that create a natural fit. This collaboration will provide employers with a flexible and simple solution totheir automatic enrolment obligations, removing as much of the administrative burden as possible, whilst giving the best possible deal for their entire workforce.”
Peter Glancy, Head of Corporate Pensions Proposition for Scottish Widows said:
“We are putting in place a series of major building blocks which will form our auto-enrolment proposition, designed to operate in the world beyond the Retail Distribution Review. Comprehensive support for employers and a drive to ensure good outcomes for employees at retirement underpin our strategy.
“The partnership with The People’s Pension, from B&CE, is an additional building block. By working together we can drive charges down, ensuring that employees are only paying for features which are appropriate to them. B&CE has decades of experience in managing low paid and mobile workers at low cost and on an industrial scale. We believe employers with a diverse workforce structure will benefit from our combined expertise.”
