Research by Towers Watson shows that with the amount of change pension legislation has seen over the last five years in the UK, companies are beginning to prioritise compliance requirements over adequacy in order to remain in line.

Over half of the companies surveyed in the FiT for Retirement report, claimed that compliance was their number one priority when it came to their defined contribution pensions.  This emphasis puts their workers’ education and understanding much lower on the totem pole. 

Unfortunately, according to many HR experts, the emphasis on compliance is forcing the issue of adequacy to sit on the back burner.  This isn’t entirely surprising to human resource experts, however.  Given the number of changes the pensions world has seen, it only makes sense that employers are working overtime to make sure they are following the rules.  Although it is understandable, is it right? 

Many workers feel as though the heavy emphasis on compliance takes away from why employers offer pensions in the first place; either for attraction and retention, or for employees to use during retirement.

The survey did find that UK employers were hoping to decrease the amount of emphasis that is being placed on compliance and shift to an increased focus on effective pension management. 

In the United States, compliance is the lowest priority for employers but pension regulations are far more stable in the US than they are in the UK.