Short-term and seasonal workers should not be dragged into the State’s new mandatory workplace pension scheme, a leading recruitment group has said.
Excel Recruitment says the Government should use the delay of several months to introduce the My Future Fund auto-enrolment (AE) scheme to make it more user friendly.
As planned, anyone aged 23-60 and earning in excess of €20,000 a year will be automatically enrolled in the scheme on day one of their employment. Eligibility will be assessed based on gross earnings over the previous 13 weeks across all employments.
“The current AE design risks dragging short-term or seasonal workers such as those hired for the Christmas period into a scheme that won’t meaningfully benefit them, while saddling employers with unnecessary red tape,” Shane McLave, managing director of Excel Recruitment said.
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He is calling on the Government to adopt the UK model where employers may postpone enrolment for up to three months. Employees have the right to opt in with contributions from the employer starting as soon as they do so.
“That way, the right people are enrolled, and employers aren’t forced to carry an administrative burden for no reason,” Mr McLave said. He also wants seasonal employees to have the right to opt out in the first month rather than having to wait six months as per the current proposal.
“The success of this scheme will hinge on how it’s implemented,” the recruitment firm boss said. “A rigid, one-size-fits-all system will only lead to confusion, wasted resources and a loss of trust in the scheme.”
More broadly, Excel says the latest delay in introducing auto-enrolment signals a worrying lack of readiness. Mr McLave also criticised the State’s lack of infrastructure to support employers or workers in understanding AE.
“We’re seeing yet another major employment reform being rolled out without the tools and services to support it. There is no regulated advisory body in place to answer workers’ questions, and employers are effectively being asked to step into that role without training, legal cover, or authority. That is unacceptable.”
