As a result of automatic enrolment, millions of people now have a workplace pension.
Millions of workers have now been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by their employer. Saving into a workplace pension is easy – you don’t have to do anything. Once you’re enrolled by your employer, not only will you pay into the scheme, but so will your boss and you may also get tax relief from the Government.
Pensions can take many forms and you may have previously been invited to join a defined contribution or personal pension by your employer.
Your employer will need to enrol you into a workplace pension scheme if you:
- Are not already in one, or they’ve not enrolled you into one
- Are aged between 22 and State Pension age
- Earn more than £10,000 a year
- Usually work in the UK
You can opt out if you want to, but that means losing out on employer and government contributions – and if you stay in, you’ll have your own pension that you receive when you retire.
At Ward Goodman we have worked alongside many clients to help them provide the necessary Work Place Pension scheme for their employees, but the support doesn’t end there. A regular review of your Work Place Pension is a sensible approach. There are also other ways in which an organisation can maximise what goes into an employees pension.
One such client is Japanese Knotweed. The environmental consultants based in Romsey, Hampshire had setup a Work Place Pension back in 2015 with some help from Ward Goodman.
Since then, as the contributions paid in have increased in line with government rules, Japanese Knotweed have been looking at ways to make their pension more attractive to their staff and to go that little bit further with the benefits it offers.
After discussions with Chris Peters, Financial Planner at Ward Goodman, they have added a Salary Sacrifice option for staff members to maximise what goes into the pension.
Salary Sacrifice is essentially an arrangement that an employer makes available to its employees where by the employee agrees to a reduction in their earnings by an amount equal to their pension contributions. In exchange for this, the employer agrees to pay the total pension contributions making the contributions into the pension all employer only. The benefit of this is that the employee and the employer pay less National Insurance Contributions with these savings made being used to maximise what goes into the pension in a tax efficient manner.
Matthew Rodgers, HR Manager at Japanese Knotweed said ‘This revision of our pension scheme not only represents another cornerstone in our employee engagement strategy, in terms of financial wellbeing, it also empowers staff to take greater control of their pension savings. It has been very positive experience working so closely with Ward Goodman on this project and we are especially grateful for the support from the Payroll and Planning Teams.’
Chris Peters from Ward Goodman added, ‘The importance of reviewing your workplace pension scheme on a regular basis is crucial to its overall success. I am very pleased that Japanese Knotweed have demonstrated the benefits of doing just this, both to their business and most importantly to their staff who will undoubtedly see the benefits of this addition to their pension scheme.’
For more information on how Ward Goodman can assist you, contact 01202 875 900 or email Christopher.Peters@wardgoodman.co.uk
