KEY POINTS:
An Employers and Manufacturers Association survey shows a majority of employers plan to stick to the statutory minimum of a 1 per cent employer contribution to KiwiSaver come April 1.
From that date employers must start contributing to their employees' KiwiSaver accounts. The minimum is 1 per cent the first year, 2 per cent the following year, 3 per cent in 2010 and reaches the target of 4 per cent by 2011.
Of 612 employers surveyed by the EMA late last year, more than 500 said they would be making only the 1 per cent minimum contribution.
Manager of employment services, David Lowe, said KiwiSaver had been a changing beast and he believed employers were only doing what they absolutely had to until they saw the final version.
He added that there had recently been a lot of changes to employment conditions, such as the increase to four weeks' annual leave, and that the economy was slowing.
"You just can't keep doling out endless sums of money," Lowe said.
But Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said that the employer tax credit of up to $20 a week per employee effectively meant a KiwiSaver contribution of 2 per cent was no cost to the employer.
"Why wouldn't an employer do that if they were a good employer?" she asked. "Our experience is a number of employers are taking that opportunity."
In the transitional period until 2009, an employer can also elect to help a staff member reach the minimum employee contribution of 4 per cent by putting in at least 2 per cent.
David Lowe believed employers did not yet widely know about the "two-plus-two" scheme.
While many respondents to the survey reported difficulty in finding skilled employees, he said KiwiSaver contributions were not the "only tool in the box" for attracting and retaining staff.
