ISME warns mandatory pensions will cost jobs

SMALL firms’ lobby group ISME believes mandatory employer-funded pensions would result in thousands of job losses.

The organisation said yesterday that from the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), mandatory employer pension contributions are a “no-go” option — adding that SMEs “could not afford to make a contribution to employees’ pension schemes, due to the significant costs already being experienced by the sector, at a time when companies are struggling to stay afloat”.

Individual responsibility for retirement income must be demanded, it said.