Anne-Marie Winton in Pensions Expert re RBS passing £18m NI costs to members
Anne-Marie Winton provided Pensions Expert with her opinion on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s decision to make its members pay for the £18m rise in its national insurance contributions after contracting-out.
Anne-Marie said the bank’s actions were unsurprising given the recent changes to legislation.
“I don’t think we should be too surprised by an employer, who was given the opportunity by legislation to make this pension scheme a bit cheaper to run or to share the cost with the employees, choosing to do it,” she said.
Winton said that “cosmetically” the decision is likely to prompt member reaction, but taking a decision permissible under legislation did not warrant “outrage”.
Other employers may follow suit, Winton said, although a complex terrain of communicating the changes lies ahead for employers opting to pass on costs.
“The challenge is going to be explanation to scheme members,” she said, “You have to explain a bit about what contracting-out was in the first place.”
Read the full article in Pensions Expert here.
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