These days, calming employees’ fears about the economy is a must for recruiting and retaining workers.

A key part of that is getting workers comfortable with their retirement funds.

When it comes to retirement plans, one main goal is making it easier for employees to join and remain in the employer’s 401(k) program, according to a recent survey by Deloitte Consulting.

Here’s what companies are doing to increase participation:

• 42% automatically enroll employees as soon as they’re eligible. That’s almost double the number of companies that used auto-enroll last year (23%).
• 15% use an “easy enrollment” process, like having employees fill out a postcard or other simple form that can be completed quickly. That number’s up from 11% last year.
• 48% have stopped making employees wait and let them start saving when they get their first paycheck.
• 68% of companies use a default rate of 3% of the employee’s salary. Last year, only 53% had a default rate that high.

Tags: 401K, Deloitte, enrollment