Employers with five or more employees are required to provide access to a stakeholder pension scheme for their employees unless they offer a suitable alternative pension scheme.
The pension scheme was non-contributory and was available only to the deserving poor; men and women who had become destitute through no fault of their own.
According to the initial arrangement, the employees which took part in this pension scheme were entitled to receive an early retirement at the age of 66 if they wanted it.
