A Pension Quality Mark, launched today by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), looks set to make workplace pensions easier to understand and more attractive to employees.

Both Marks & Spencer and Kellogg’s were among the first to receive the Pension Quality Mark award for commitment to their employees’ retirement savings.

The key qualifying criteria includes areas like contribution rates and governance and communications, and research from the NAPF has found that 67% of employees looking for a new job said that the Pension Quality Mark would make them look more favourably on a potential employer, while 52 per cent said the mark would make them more likely to join their work pension scheme.

Commenting on the move, Joanne Segars, NAPF chief executive said: “The Pension Quality Mark is an exciting new initiative which will benefit both employers and employees. It shows these employers’ commitment to encouraging their staff to save for retirement, which is becoming ever more vital.”

Chief executive at the Pensions Regulator, Tony Hobman added: “With volatile markets and a changing pensions landscape it is more important than ever at this time to ensure that standards in pension scheme management continue to improve.

“We encourage any initiative by the pension industry that pushes the quality of pensions and encourages higher standards of governance and member communications.”

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