The Pensions Regulator has revamped the auto-enrolment section of its website to help small to medium-sized enterprises implement the reform by adding step-by-step tools and drop-down information menus.
Next year's staging dates will see SMEs beginning to auto-enrol their employees. Industry experts have warned that the terminology used by the pensions industry may be too difficult for these employers and their employees to understand.
This is part of the challenge, it is very complicated – a degree of simplification is needed
This led to discussion at the regulator about how processes could be simplified to smooth the fulfilling of these companies' new obligations.
Charles Counsell, executive director of auto-enrolment at the watchdog, said it had assessed the impact of its communication and guidance on different employers affected by auto-enrolment, by nature of their size and sector.
He said: “We recognise the medium and smaller employees staging in the next 18 months need tools and information created for them. We have tested new products with these medium employers and have refreshed our website with simpler step-by-step tools and drop-down information.”
The watchdog will continue its development of new products as it receives feedback from employers and advisers about the kind of information they find helpful, he added.
Paul Leandro, associate at consultancy Barnett Waddingham, said the language used by service providers is hindering member understanding. “As an industry we need to address that,” he said.
Written communication from providers is "pretty impenetrable" to members, due in most part to the technical language used, he said, adding: "It is investment-speak, so when we talk to employers we look at ways they can supplement that information to make it more understandable."
Employers can work to make their communications easier to digest by using traditional newsletters written in everyday language – as well as seminars, the use of apps and more visual content.
The regulator's move came after Nest announced it had re-launched its website to address the needs of those auto-enrolling in the coming years. And last month, members of a panel discussion at Pensions Week’s Leadership Summit expressed concern over the language used by the regulator.
“The Pensions Regulator's guidance is good if you are a pensions professional – it is very challenging if you are not… This is part of the challenge, it is very complicated – a degree of simplification is needed," Martin Thompson, director of Premier Benefit Solutions, said at the time.
