Morrisons reassures staff over new pension scheme

MORRISONS has hit back at allegations that it is trying to short-change employees with a pension scheme that is exempt from new Government rules.

A report out yesterday suggested that the Bradford-based supermarket is set to sidestep the Government’s new flagship auto-enrolment pension regime.

But Morrisons’ spokesman Julian Bailey said that far from trying to short-change employees, the new scheme will give them a guaranteed pot of money when they retire.

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“We are introducing a new pension scheme this week which gives our colleagues the assurance of a guarantee about the pension pot they will receive,” he said.

“Auto enrolment starts for Morrisons on October 1, 2012, and new and existing colleagues will be enrolled in this scheme when they meet eligibility criteria.”

He added that auto enrolment legislation includes a phasing period for all companies through to 2018 and for defined benefit schemes this will mean that some employees won’t be auto-enrolled until 2017, but clearly they will have the opportunity to opt-in at any time.

“We want our colleagues to start saving now into our improved pension scheme and what we really want to avoid is large numbers of opt-outs when auto-enrolment is introduced,” he said.

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“That is why we are running a massive campaign fronted by Alvin Hall to encourage our existing colleagues to save for retirement.”

TV personal finance guru Alvin Hall is running a nationwide course of money makeovers for Morrisons staff, explaining what the scheme involves and allowing staff to make an informed decision.

“We expect more than half of our staff to be auto-enrolled in this new scheme by 2017,” said Mr Bailey.

“It gives us time to prepare people for a fixed amount to come out of their salary. We are offering colleagues a better pension scheme. It’s the right thing to do for our employees.”

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Morrisons will underwrite the scheme, giving staff a return that is predictable and guaranteed.

A DWP spokesperson said: “Automatic enrolment has been designed to ease costs for employers by phasing in minimum contributions over time to 2018.

Employers with defined benefit schemes can automatically enrol staff from day one, or defer until October 2017.

“In this instance, while new staff will be automatically enrolled into the defined benefit scheme existing staff can also opt in, but otherwise will be automatically enrolled on the deferral date.”