The combination of increases in pension plan freezes and the number of employees nearing retirement is causing companies to struggle with pension plan administration. Employers can ease their burdens significantly by implementing Web-based systems, according to pension administration experts at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a global human capital and investment consulting firm.
ìAs the baby boomers begin to retire, companies are increasingly swamped with requests for pension payout estimates. Such demands will only increase in the coming decades,î said Tony DeNucci, national leader of pension administration systems for Watson Wyatt. ìTo deal with this challenge, more and more companies are putting in place Web-based systems which give employees easy access to pension information while streamlining plan administration for employers.î
DeNucci added that Watson Wyattís pension experts have seen Web-based systems reduce the number of pension-related calls that human resources departments receive by as much as 75 percent. Furthermore, a significant number of employers are outsourcing the administrative duties associated with pension plans.
Web-based systems also benefit companies that are freezing or closing their pension plans. With the exception of a handful in bankruptcy, these companies will continue to provide pensions to retirees and most current employees. As a result, many will be administering pension plans for decades to come.
ìPension obligations do not go away just because a company decides to freeze or close its plan,î DeNucci said. ìCompanies opting to freeze or limit access to their defined benefit plans need to consider how long that process will take and need to weigh the costs and benefits carefully. Regardless of their decision, well-designed Web-based systems can go a long way to easing the administrative burdens they face.î
Information on PensionPath, Watson Wyattís Web-based pension administration system, is available at www.watsonwyatt.com/pensionpath.
Employers using web to meet increasing pension administration demands
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