The Your Island Pension (YIP) scheme will be available on a voluntary basis from 1st January 2024 and secondary pensions will become mandatory for larger employers from the 1st July 2024.
From 1st July 2024, larger employers (those with 26+ employers) will be required to enrol their employees into an approved secondary pension. Over the following 15 months, there will be a phased approach for all other businesses to provide approved secondary pensions for their employees. The date from which this obligation will apply to individual employers will depend on the number of employees they have.
Full details of YIP and the mandatory requirements of the secondary pension policy will be made available to employers by July this year at the latest, providing 12 months to prepare. More information, including regularly updated FAQs, can be found at gov.gg/secondarypensions.
It is estimated that approximately 65% of the employed working age population are not making any personal pension provision and by ensuring Islanders are preparing for the future, it will reduce the demand on tax-funded income support for those over retirement age in future years.
To support the initiative, the States have facilitated the establishment of YIP. YIP will be separate from other States functions and governed independently by Sovereign Pension Services (CI) Limited. Employers also have the choice to enrol their employees in any other alternative qualifying scheme from another provider.
After ten years in the making, we welcome the news that secondary pensions legislation will be in place next year. We know that for many of our members, this will seem a daunting prospect but we are here to help. We look forward to the details of the YIP scheme being shared in the coming months so that we can support our members.
More information, including regularly updated FAQs, can be found at gov.gg/secondarypensions.
