Auto-enrolment has your future in mind. Does your employer?

Just read the Independent article about large companies allegedly putting schemes in place to deter staff from going into pension auto-enrolment, and it really hit home.

My employer suddenly offered us a pension with only a 2% employer contribution, and the employer contributions had a two-year vesting period.

I looked at the offer and decided to go with auto-enrolment instead.

One of the things that influenced me was that auto-enrolment is designed to increase contributions over time. The employer contribution rises alongside the employee contribution:

• Years 1–3: 1.5% employee + 1.5% employer
• Years 4–6: 3% employee + 3% employer
• Years 7–9: 4.5% employee + 4.5% employer
• Year 10 onwards: 6% employee + 6% employer

There is also a State top-up equivalent to €1 for every €3 the employee contributes, subject to the scheme's limits.

So while my employer's offer was 2%, auto-enrolment is deliberately structured to build up over time, eventually reaching a 6% employer contribution.

At the time I wondered if I was making the wrong decision by turning down the company pension, but reading this article makes the whole thing feel a lot less accidental.

Did anyone else's employer introduce a similarly poor pension offer around the time auto-enrolment came in? Especially low employer contributions or vesting conditions?

Curious how widespread this actually was.