Occupational Pensions / Auto Enrolment

“How occupational pension schemes work”

Occupational Pensions
How occupational pension schemes work

Every payday, a percentage of the employee’s pay is deducted automatically from their salary or wages and invested in the scheme. The employer also contributes to the scheme on the employee’s behalf as does the government in the form of tax relief.

Two types of scheme

In a ‘defined contribution scheme’, the employee’s retirement income is based on the contributions made, whereas in a defined benefit scheme, the employee’s pension income is based on his or her salary and length of service with the employer. Most occupational pension schemes are defined contribution schemes.

What happens if the employer goes out of business?

Most defined contribution schemes are managed by insurance companies not the employer, so employees’ pension pots should not be affected. If the scheme is a trust-based scheme, employees will still get their pensions, although not as much because the scheme’s running costs will be paid out of members’ pension pots rather than by the employer.

Auto Enrolment

Under ‘Automatic enrolment’ rules, any employer (with at least one member of staff) must automatically enrol every employee between the age of 22 and State Pension age and earning in excess of £10,000 a year (2022/23) into a ‘Workplace pension scheme’.

Contribution costs

The minimum contribution for employers is 3% of the employee’s earnings, whilst employees are obliged to contribute at least 4% or 5% of their earnings before tax, depending on the scheme criteria.

THE PENSIONS REGULATOR IS THE STATUTORY REGULATOR FOR WORKPLACE PENSIONS.

THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY DOES NOT REGULATE AUTO ENROLMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS.

A DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PENSION IS A LONG TERM INVESTMENT, THE FUND VALUE MAY FLUCTUATE AND CAN GO DOWN. YOUR EVENTUAL INCOME MAY DEPEND UPON THE SIZE OF THE FUND AT RETIREMENT, FUTURE INTEREST RATES AND TAX LEGISLATION.

INFORMATION IS BASED ON OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF TAXATION LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS. ANY LEVELS AND BASES OF, AND RELIEFS FROM TAXATION, ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Related Topics

Pensions

State Pension

National Employment Savings Trust (NEST)

Executive Pension Plan

Income Drawdown

Personal

SIPP

SSAS

Stakeholder

Annuities

ENQUIRY FORM

    *

    *

    *

    Customer Testimonials

    Our Other areas of expertise

    Financial Planning

    As professional financial advisers we can help you make informed decisions about your financial future, short, medium and long term.

    Read more
    Pensions

    A well prepared pension plan which is regularly reviewed should go some way to providing you with a reasonable level of income in your retirement.

    Read more
    QROPS

    Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme

    Read more