The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has welcomed indications from a government review that recruiters may now be given the option of waiting for three months instead of having to enrol their temporary and contract workers onto a pension scheme from day one. 

Commenting on the proposed revised timeframe, Tom Hadley (left), the REC’s director of policy and professional services, says: “We all understand the need for people to save more for their retirement. The imperative is to find a workable solution that balances costs and benefits to the individual, the employers and the tax-payer.

“A three-month extension to the enrolment period would be a big step towards that direction. Auto-enrolment to the scheme from day one would bring an enormous administrative burden to front line recruiters tasked with carrying out the auto-enrolment of their temporary and contract workers.

“In the current economic climate any additional bureaucracy would put the industry’s already fragile recovery at risk.

“We urge the government to acknowledge the recent recommendations. As this is not a done deal, the REC will continue to lead the debate until the right decisions are made.”

The review has now been submitted to ministers.