MANY small firms with five or more employees are still unaware of their obligation to offer stakeholder pensions, according to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
The stakeholder pension was introduced earlier this month to encourage those on lower and middle incomes to save for retirement.
"Facing a raft of other statutory burdens, many companies appear to be choosing to forget about stakeholder pensions until nearer October when they face paying hefty fines," said John Davies, head of business law at ACCA.
"Companies are required to consult their staff by providing them with a choice of available schemes.
"Firms then have to set up arrangements to make payroll deductions of contributions for those staff members who choose to join the scheme.
"Faced with the real possibility of having to pay such a large fine, firms should not leave matters too late."
Failure of employers to offer stakeholder pensions could lead to fines of up to £50,000.
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