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Welcome to our latest news from The People’s Pension.
In this issue:
- Coronavirus webpage for you
- The importance of environmental, social and governance investment
- Changes to the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- Top 3 things your employees may want to know
Coronavirus webpage for you
The People’s Pension have created a Coronavirus Webpage pulling together all coronavirus information into one place so you and your employees can quickly find what may be needed.
- answers to general enquires on investments, charges and features
- information to help you and your employees with policy-specific information
Extended phone lines
The team at The People’s Pension remain safe and well, they have been able to return more staff to the phone lines and they’re ready to answer your calls.
They have been able to extend the hours the phone lines are open:.
- Member phone lines: Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm.
Your employees are also able to contact them remotely via go online – the teams are ready to respond.
Pension Scams
Pension scammers could be using the uncertainty brought on by coronavirus to target employees with scams, particularly those who are older, vulnerable or isolated.
To help protect your employees please share with them The Pensions Regulator’s webpage on ‘How to avoid pension scams’. The Pensions Regulator have produced a guide ‘COVID-19 and your pension’ – it’s a great resource and sets out the warning signs to look out for and the support employees can get.
Help keep your employees’ money safe
The importance of environmental, social and governance investment
There’s a growing need to offer pension savers investment choices that are both beneficial to their futures and the environment.
The People’s Pension understand this, which is why they are continuing to work on ways to implement environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment into their funds, including the default fund.
With nearly all pension savers remaining invested in default funds*, they have taken the first step in reducing a portion of the default fund’s exposure to carbon emissions by 50% improving their ESG score by 20%.
The People’s Pension believe investing in companies that address ESG issues will ultimately provide better long-term returns for pension savers.
Listening to our members
An online survey for pension savers is available to all employees providing them with the opportunity to provide feedback about responsible investment. The results will feed into The People’s Pension ESG investment approach and have so far shown that climate change is a key concern.
Share Our Survey and help your employees have their say.
Visit Our Responsible Investment webpage for more on how we care for our members’ money.
*Source: 99.7% – Pensions Policy Institute, Oct 2017
Changes to the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The government will be updating their Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in July and August this year.
What will these changes be?
- From 1 July 2020 – employers can use flexible furloughing to bring employees back to work part time. Employers will need to start paying the wages for the part-time hours worked but can still claim the CJRS grant for the hours they don’t work.
- From August 2020 – employers will need to begin paying all National Insurance and pension contributions for all staff covered by the CJRS. The amount the government pays towards employee wages through the CJRS grant will also slowly reduce on a tapered basis.
Visit the government’s website for more information about these changes.
Helping employers to keep on furloughed workers
On 8 July the government announced the Job Retention Bonus scheme to protect the jobs of as many people as possible. Intended to last until January 2021, employers will receive £1,000 for every furloughed employee who is still employed by end of January. The government plan to release more information about this scheme by end of July 2020.
Top 3 things your employees want to know
Every month The People’s Pension take note of the top 3 questions they get asked.
This month:
- Where can I find out more about making payments into The People’s Pension?
- I receive errors when I’m trying to upload my employees’ data, what do they mean?
- I’ve received a message about re-enrolment what do I do?
For more answers to commonly asked questions from either employers (and their employees) visit our knowledge base.
The content of this email is for information only. It does not represent advice or a recommendation and should not be interpreted as such. Please do not act upon any part of it without first having consulted an Independent Financial Adviser.
Contact Opus Gold by calling or e mailing us
London 020 7871 5387
Brighton 01273 457100
Horsham 01403 333666
Opus Gold is a trading style of Best Practice IFA Group Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.