BESA to Help Cut Red Tape for Contractors
The Building Engineering Services Association has become the first trade body to adopt a new industry agreed prequalification standard that promises to cut expensive and...
Read Full ArticleDepartment for Work and Pensions figures show that only 797,000 employees out of a total industry workforce of 2.2 million were paying into any kind of pension.
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), the UK’s leading trade organisation for building engineering services contractors, feels that workers need more protection from poverty in retirement.
The figures, sourced by the union Unite, do not include the tens of thousands of self-employed workers used by construction firms, whose pension participation is believed to be even lower.
Unite National Officer for Construction Jerry Swain said this would result in a “destitute generation of future pensioners”.
BESA said many should already have pension rights locked into their working conditions and urged employers to take advantage of a working agreement that has had contractual pension provisions at the heart of its wider benefits package for more than a decade.
The National Wage Agreement means that all operatives, including apprentices, have the right to participate in an employers’ contributory pension scheme. As part of a worker’s terms and conditions, employers contribute a minimum of 5 per cent of basic earnings into a qualifying scheme.
The agreement is negotiated between BESA, on behalf of employers, and Unite, representing the workforce and both parties were congratulated for their “forward thinking approach” when the pension element was added in 2010.
It was set up as part of the terms of negotiated wage settlements before auto-enrolment legislation made contributory pensions a legal requirement for employers.
“The National Agreement has always been, and remains, ahead of the curve as far as pensions are concerned,” said BESA’s Head of Employment Affairs Paula Samuels.
“Through these contractual pension arrangements, employers continue to demonstrate a long-term commitment to making sure operatives are catered for beyond the lifetime of the employment relationship.”
BESA added that providing a benefits package was an important part of a wider investment by employers in creating a high-quality workforce where skilled operatives were properly rewarded for their loyalty and commitment to professional working practices.
“Employers who take advantage of the full range of in-service benefits via the BESA subsidiary Welplan, such as sick pay, death benefit, and disability benefit, show they value their workers and want to provide for them and their families should the worst happen.
“This also gives the employer a competitive advantage because they can offer better terms to skilled workers, who are in higher demand than ever as the industry bounces back from the pandemic,” added Samuels.
Picture: a photograph of a construction worker, wearing a protective hard hat, working on some steel roofing
Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 14 May 2021
The Building Engineering Services Association has become the first trade body to adopt a new industry agreed prequalification standard that promises to cut expensive and...
Read Full ArticleThe Building Engineering Services Association predicts that the failure to retrofit commercial buildings to meet net-zero targets could to ignite a new energy...
Read Full ArticleRebecca Fox, former Director of Membership and Business Development at the Association for Project Management, has been named as the Building Engineering Services...
Read Full ArticleMultinational construction company Laing O’Rourke is making low-carbon concrete standard on all of its new UK projects. From 1 April 2023, low-carbon concrete...
Read Full ArticleThe Building Engineering Services Association has revealed best practice for allowing adequate spacing between building services in projects. In a technical bulletin...
Read Full ArticleThe Building Engineering Services Association has won the Best Use of Technology Award at the Trade Association Awards 2023 for its Ventilation Hygiene Elite...
Read Full ArticleNew research shows that 2 per cent of the heating and hot water industry sector’s workforce are women and only 5 per cent are from an ethnic minority...
Read Full ArticleThe answer to many of the UK’s serious social and economic challenges could be solved by its engineering community, said the President of the Building...
Read Full ArticleBESA is marking National Apprenticeship Week 2023 by encouraging employers to pledge to take on at least one new apprentice this year. Recent government research found...
Read Full ArticleFunding earmarked for building efficiency should be brought forward urgently in light of the energy cost crisis and climate change goals, according to BESA. “The...
Read Full Article