Pensions: vital issue
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
pENSIONS will become a vital issue for all hauliers if the Government presses ahead with its plans for the abolition of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme. The White Paper is expected this mouth.
You are going to be subjected to a lot of pressure from the insurance industry and unions," said Philip Conacher, a director of RHA Insurance Services, through which Bain Dawes markets most of its brokerage services to the haulage industry.
Under the Government plans, hauliers inav find themselves having to contribute to a pension plan for their employees. "You should be thinking about it now so that you can make a decision in 1986,said Conacher. He advised that a simple money purchase scheme is the best option for a haulier. Drivers know exactly what they are contributing and what they will get out.
RHAIS is planning to launch a simple scheme for the haulage industry this month. It is to be administered by Legal and General, with contrihutions made by direct debit.
Pension schemes for drivers remains something of an unknown quantity for smaller haulage fleets. Hauliers which have got schemes appear to have gone mainly fin the least complicated arrangements.
At present the RI IA is staying well clear of any policy involvement in pensions. But there is strong union pressure for a pension scheme provision of some sort to be included in Joint Industrial Council agreements on terms and conditions, and several hauliers in Portugal were predicting that pensions could be brought into agreements over the next three or Four years.