MYOB working to close the retirement savings gender gap

MYOB is actively seeking to maximise employees’ retirement savings, and has announced they will continue to contribute to employees’ workplace savings schemes throughout parental leave. In doing so, the online accounting software provider joins only a handful of progressive employers across New Zealand who offer this benefit to their team members.

MYOB’s Head of People and Performance, Alla Keogh, says this is a big step towards addressing the existing retirement savings gender gap that sees the average retirement savings for women at $144,000 compared to the average payout of $203,000 for men.[1]

“Estimates suggest that women retire with around 30 per cent less retirement savings than men, on average. One of the factors for this gap is the fact that women tend to spend more time out of the workforce to care for family, and because workplace savings schemes are generally a percentage of your salary, that means less savings for retirement,” says Ms Keogh.

“Furthermore, women are more likely to retire earlier and live longer than men. This means they are more likely to need more super for a comfortable retirement.”

In order to help their employees bridge the gap and build stronger retirement balances, MYOB has adjusted their parental leave policy. Primary carers, with a minimum of 12 months’ service, will now receive full workplace saving scheme contribution payments for the length of their parental leave, up to 52 weeks.

MYOB offers two types of workplace savings schemes to their New Zealand employees. KiwiSaver sees the company paying up to a maximum of 3% of gross base salary, while with AMP’s New Zealand Retirement Trust MYOB pays up to 5% of gross base salary in employer contributions. MYOB employees have the option to join one, or both, of these schemes and continuing employer contributions over parental leave will be based on employee contributions in the preceding 12 months.

The change to MYOB’s parental leave policy is on top of their existing policy to pay eligible team members 12 weeks’ full salary and the New Zealand Government Paid Parental Leave Scheme offering up to 16 weeks of paid parental leave (up to a maximum of $516.85 per week).

The Human Rights Commission welcomed MYOB’s announcement.

“MYOB’s move is an example of how good employers can show leadership in our business community as well as positively impact the lives of their employees,” said EEO Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue.

“Continuing contributions to saving schemes while women are on parental leave will mean they will be in a far better shape financially on retirement. This is a smart policy as it will promote MYOB as ‘family friendly’ and an employer of choice.”

MYOB believes their change in policy strengthens their commitment to a supportive and diverse working environment.

“At MYOB we recognise our talented team as a key competitive advantage and we feel this simple change is a great way to show our people that we value them. By supporting our employees in both their personal and their professional lives we hope to not only retain our existing talent, but attract further talent to join our fantastic team. We encourage employers think about ways they can work towards an equal future for all their employees,” says Ms Keogh.

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For further comment or other information please contact:

Rebecca Huang, MYOB NZ Public Relations Consultant

P: 09 925 3505 / M: 021 1122 720/ E: rebecca.huang@myob.com

Gerard Blank, The Agency Communications Limited Director

P: 03 341 5841 / M: 0275 243 629 / E: gerard@theagencynz.co.nz

About MYOB

MYOB (ASX:MYO) is a leading cloud based business management solutions provider. It makes business life easier for approximately 1.2 million businesses across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, practice management, CRM, websites, job costing, inventory and more. MYOB provides ongoing support via many client service channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly in cloud computing solutions, and in 2015 was awarded the BRW award for the most innovative large company for 500+ employees and placed 2nd in BRW’s Most Innovative Companies Award list across all categories nationally.  For more information, visit myob.co.nz or follow @MYOB on Twitter.

[1] Source: Average KiwiSaver balance according to ANZ Investments estimate at anz.co.nz/wisewomen, Jul 2015