Print Profile: One company that is making itself a pensions-compliant workplace in advance of the September 15th deadline is Print Profile, a general printing firm based in Midleton, Co Cork.
"I mentioned it to my staff and they weren't sure whether they wanted to start a pension or not," says Ms Mary McCaffrey, a director of the company.
But regardless of whether any of the six twentysomething employees of Print Profile opt to start a pension now, giving them the option of contributing to a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) through payroll deductions is "something that must be done one way or another", Ms McCaffrey notes.
So far, agents for two PRSA providers and one independent intermediary have come in to talk to staff.
Ms McCaffrey advises employers to sit down and talk to providers before they give them access to employees.
"You need to find out the details of exactly what will be put on offer. It's very easy to say to someone 'ah sure, go on inside', but somebody is going to be getting a chunk out of your employees' wages, so it's a serious thing," she says.
Employers should want their employees to get the best deal, Ms McCaffrey adds, but they shouldn't cross the line and actually select a particular product or pension fund option for their employees.
That could just lead to blame falling on the employer if fund performance or quality of service goes askew.
"I'm leaving it up to my employees to decide who they want to go with. Employers can't dictate in this situation. They shouldn't do that," she says.
Ms McCaffrey, who manages the financial side of the printing business that she owns with her husband, Victor, believes that pensions must be simplified for individual workers.
"A lot of that kind of insurance talk can be over everyone's heads," she says.
PRSAs highlight the issue of saving for retirement for younger people, Ms McCaffrey says. It is now up to employers to play their part, she believes.
"At the last minute there will be chaos unless employers sort it out now," she predicts.
For the moment, Print Profile will not be making contributions to any PRSAs its staff take out.
"It's not a good time to go down that route," she says. "With so many people losing their jobs, I can't see employers jumping out and making that commitment."
