PENSIONS
Data preparation queries As pension schemes and providers prepare their data to be digitally searchable, they may have queries which they refer to payroll, for example, about employees’ or former employees’ personal details. These queries could increase after dashboards launch. "During 2024/25, expect many more providers to announce plans to launch a dashboard" Employee ‘total retirement’ awareness For the first time in the UK, all employees will be able to easily see their total retirement picture, across all their different pensions. A key focus for users is the total income they might get in retirement (see the Danish dashboard example to the left). This dramatically helps employees understand the sort of retirement they’re on target for, potentially leading them to make changes, such as increasing contributions, if they wish to. See the employer case study to the left. Employee well-being support After seeing their total pension picture on a dashboard, workers are likely to have a wide variety of questions, and they may turn to their employer for help. This presents a great opportunity for employers to offer support, and wider tools, to really help staff move nearer to the retirement they aspire to as part of their overall financial well-being. Some employers might want to go even further and offer their workers a pensions dashboard themselves, or, as a minimum, choose a pension provider which offers a pensions dashboard. n Find out more Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://ow.ly/3trC50QyJpV PDP: https://ow.ly/ojFF50Qu4IB The Pensions Regulator (TPR) dashboards guidance: https://ow.ly/ GvZu50Qu4L0 Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) dashboards guidance: https://ow.ly/ WbN950Qu4N4
Employer case study on employee 'total retirement' awareness Understanding your total retirement position is so important that, in Sweden, when a new Volvo employee starts work, their employer (Volvo) encourages them to view their total pension on the Swedish pensions dashboard, here: https://ow.ly/VzXI50Qu4EO.
So what’s the latest?
This must be done in stages through 2025 and by no later than 31 October 2026. The statutory guidance for those staged connections is expected to be announced shortly (possibly as soon as April 2024).
March 2024 At the time of writing, HM Treasury is due to amend its overarching legislation of regulated financial services on 11 March 2024, adding 'Operating a pensions dashboard service' to the list. This opens the door for the FCA to publish detailed conduct rules for dashboard operators, and for firms (like Standard Life, Lloyds Bank, etc.) to then apply to the FCA to become authorised dashboard providers. The government is building its own ‘MoneyHelper’ dashboard at the MaPS too. April 2024 Separately, all pension schemes and providers must connect their data to the government’s CDA, so it’s digitally searchable.
2025 testing and 2026 launch With dashboards connected and data
connected, end-to-end testing of the whole ecosystem can take place, with the launch of dashboards to the general public potentially taking place in 2026. Of course, there’s a general election due before then, so it’s good news that there’s strong cross-party support for the pensions dashboards concept. Best practice for employers So what does this all mean for employers and their payroll teams? At least three things:
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 98 | March 2024
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