Standard Life aims to simplify workplace pensions

Pensions giant Standard Life has teamed up with accounting software specialist Sage in an effort to reduce the burden on employers running auto-enrolment workplace pension schemes for their staff.

Standard Life said the tie-up with Sage will reduce the administrative burden on employers. Picture: Neil Hanna

The Edinburgh-based group said that small firms, which tend not to have dedicated payroll or HR functions to deal with their auto-enrolment obligations, will be able to send pension contributions to it via the Sage 50 system “in one click”.

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Under rules introduced in 2012, employers have to provide a workplace pension for all eligible staff, and so far more than 7.6 million people have been signed up to auto-enrolment schemes, with Standard Life enrolling more than one million new members as of November.

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Alan Ritchie, head of employer and trustee Proposition at Standard Life, said: “For many businesses, auto-enrolment isn’t simply about meeting the obligation to have a workplace pension – it’s about setting up a high-quality scheme that provides an engaging, valuable, long-term investment in the future of their employees.

“A quality pension can aid the recruitment, retention and reward of some of the best talent in their field. Our partnership with Sage will help small businesses to achieve this while reducing their administrative burdens.”

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Dan Docherty, product marketing director at fintech group Sage, added: “Teaming up with Standard Life means we are able to support even more businesses in eliminating what can be an administrative burden; helping owners free up time that they can use to build their businesses instead.”

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