Sage UK and Mercer have launched of Sage Employee Benefits, a new service designed to make it easier and more affordable for SMEs to introduce staff benefits packages.

Sage Employee Benefits offers small business owners the opportunity to provide benefits packages including medical, life insurance, income protection, pensions, travel and dental insurance. Provided via Mercer’s mercer-elect solution, the service harnesses Mercer’s strong relationships within the insured benefits market developed from its work with multi-nationals. The proposition is designed to give SMEs – looking to provide cover for up to 100 employees – access to competitive rates and leading benefits normally only available to larger organisations.

“Whilst most employers understand the significance of offering a benefits package, SMEs still have concerns regarding costs and the time required for administration. That’s why Mercer and Sage launched Sage Employee Benefits with mercer-elect. Designed with small business owners in mind from day one, it makes bespoke benefit packages simple to roll out and easy to manage at an affordable price,” explained Matthew Forrest, head of services, Small Business Division, Sage UK.

The Sage Employee Benefits solution simplifies the administration associated with running a benefits scheme by providing a secure online portal, which both employers and employees can access via their PC anytime they need information. The ‘anytime access’ helps free up entrepreneurs’ time allowing them to spend more time focusing on running their business.

Users of the service also benefit from access to Mercer’s teams of specialist advisors who provide expert guidance and insight on the latest legislation and market developments. This is all aimed at ensuring that SMEs are getting the most value from their packages.

“To think that employee benefits packages are the exclusive preserve of big business is simply wrong. When the changes brought about by the Pensions Act 2008 start to come into effect from next year, employer provision and contribution to pensions will switch from ‘nice-to–have’ to legal necessity for all organisations over the next few years,” commented Simon Griffiths, principal at Mercer. “At a time when pay rises, if they occur at all, are below the rate of inflation, employees are placing great value on the other benefits that their employers provide. We’re very pleased to be working with Sage and making the type of benefit that multinational employees enjoy as standard, available to the small business community.

 

Towergate Financial, the national financial planning and consultancy business, has launched a new pension solution specifically for SME customers.

The new ‘Workplace Pension in a Box’ has been developed in partnership with HSBC and has agreed service standards, which have been specifically designed for businesses with fewer than 20 employees. It is a simple, plug-and-play pension scheme, which is easy to administer and will be used to meet the employer’s pension reform duties.

The new pension solution comes at a time of wide-ranging reform to pension provision in the UK. From October 2012, phased in by size of firm based on number of employees, employers will have to automatically enroll eligible staff into a pension scheme. Business owners will have to pay a minimum percentage of an employee’s salary into the company scheme.

However, a majority of SMEs are concerned about the potential financial implications of government plans to overhaul pension provisions, a new survey has indicated.  Research conducted by the Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) found that 53 per cent of the 404 SMEs polled believed the reforms will “significantly add to costs”, while 29 per cent said they may cut pension contributions as a result.

David Taylor, managing director of Towergate Financial, said: “We know that small firms do not feel confident in choosing a pension scheme because of its complicated nature and costs. So we have developed with HSBC a simple and cost effective solution, our ‘Workplace Pension in a Box’, which will enable SMEs to be ahead of the new legislative changes which will also help with their budgetary planning. Acting now is also a positive move for staff who will be reassured that their employer is making plans for their pension provision.”

Rob Pearce, head of workplace retirement services, HSBC, adds, “Many employers and their advisers want to offer a pension which meets and exceeds the minimum standards of NEST. A lot of emphasis is placed on larger schemes, but we have developed with Towergate Financial an ideal solution that meets the requirements of NEST and the demands of the SME market.

“HSBC is committed to helping individuals prepare for their futures and we will continue to work in partnership with corporate advisers to put in place the right solutions for employers and their employees.”

Aviva is strengthening its position in the workplace savings market by launching Total Reward Statements – an online, personalised record that lets employees understand the value of benefits provided by their employer.

Total Reward Statements will be offered alongside group personal pensions. They will carry individual companies’ branding and give staff a personal statement of their benefits package including salary, bonus, pension, medical insurance, health screening, life and critical illness insurance, car allowance and holiday.

Information is presented in graphical format so that employees can see a consolidated reward statement and have access to more information including benefit descriptions, booklets, and application forms if required.

The technology is provided by Staffcare, an award-winning employee benefits softwarecompany that licenses its technology to many of the UK’s leading employee benefit consultants and corporate advisers.

Paul Goodwin, head of pensions marketing at Aviva, said:

“Aviva’s Total Reward Statement is ideal for employees because it enables them to better understand the value of their workplace benefits; the advantage for employers is that it improves staff engagement. An increasing number of employers are using Total Reward Statements and entering the workplace savings market. We expect that this will be a growing market over the next few years, and one in which Aviva will play a leading role.”

Phil Hollingdale, Staffcare’s founder and CEO, said:

“We are seeing an increasing demand for our software as companies seek to improve their return on the money they spend on staff benefits by raising employee awareness and appreciation through online total reward statements. Many companies recognise that they could do a better job of communicating benefits to employees and old methods of communication such as printed handbooks and face-to-face meetings do not meet the demands of today’s internet-savvy employees who are used to information on demand.

“Many leading employee benefit consultants and corporate advisers have already embraced our software. Aviva is the first product provider to license our software and we are excited to be working with them.”

Three quarters of UK small businesses are so starved of funds they cannot afford to operate a company pension scheme, new research has revealed.

And of the quarter who are able to run such schemes, only half are in a financial position to make regular contributions.

That’s according to SME adviser Clifton Asset Management (CAM), who surveyed more than 1,000 business owner-managers throughout the UK.

“We regularly hear about the ‘pensions timebomb’ because it makes a snappy headline, but these worrying figures show it is fast becoming a reality,” said Neil Greenaway, managing director at CAM.

“Amid all the recent outcry about the banks, credit crunch and recession, talk of pensions has been put on the back burner as small businesses focus on getting through this economic crisis, rather than their long term retirement plans.”

Mr Greenaway added that the issue would not go away and would likely amplify over the coming months towards 2010 when the law regarding pensions changes.

“Because of all the bad news we’ve heard about them over the last 10 years or so we tend to switch off when we hear pensions mentioned,” he said.

“It’s very disturbing to find out only a quarter of our small businesses are running company pension schemes, with just half of those making regular contributions, and I believe our research speaks volumes about the current plight and degree of apprehension most small business owners still have about the future.”

He added: “Despite recent speculation about ‘green shoots’ we are still deep in the worst recession in living memory, a fact which is obviously not lost on small business owners.”