Mistake in my employment contract

timmy963

Currently I am paying 4% of my pensionable pay which is anything above £6,240 and my company pays 8%.

I enquired to HR how I can change this to 'all earnings' which is one of the stated options as set out in my contract and states:
"Standard benefit contributions are 4% of you pensionable pay between the limits set by the government each year"
"Non-standard contribution rates are: you can pay 4% of all earnings and receive company contributions of 8%"

Someone from the pensions team got back to me and said it was a mistake and they have arranged for the contract template to be updated.

He also said it should have said: "Non-standard contribution rates are: You can pay 4% of your pensionable pay and receive company contributions of 8% of pensionable pay".

I am really annoyed because at the time of signing this contract, it was either I sign it or I have effectively resigned. I have a copy of my signed contract with me and my employer has the other in my colleague files. It was signed about 2 years ago.

Is this something which can and is worth pursuing? It's like £750 extra per year which could go into my pension pot and I've been with the company for 11+ years now.

Marcon

timmy963 said:

Currently I am paying 4% of my pensionable pay which is anything above £6,240 and my company pays 8%.

I enquired to HR how I can change this to 'all earnings' which is one of the stated options as set out in my contract and states:
"Standard benefit contributions are 4% of you pensionable pay between the limits set by the government each year"
"Non-standard contribution rates are: you can pay 4% of all earnings and receive company contributions of 8%"

Someone from the pensions team got back to me and said it was a mistake and they have arranged for the contract template to be updated.

He also said it should have said: "Non-standard contribution rates are: You can pay 4% of your pensionable pay and receive company contributions of 8% of pensionable pay".

I am really annoyed because at the time of signing this contract, it was either I sign it or I have effectively resigned. I have a copy of my signed contract with me and my employer has the other in my colleague files. It was signed about 2 years ago.

Is this something which can and is worth pursuing? It's like £750 extra per year which could go into my pension pot and I've been with the company for 11+ years now.

What are the company contribution rates for 'standard benefit contributions'? 

timmy963

4%/4% is standard for colleagues; my band is 4%/8%.

Thrugelmir

Be unusual for pension contributions to be applied to all earnings, normally restricted to basic pay. 
Pensionable pay by definition is basic pay. So you should be able to contribute on your earnings below £6,240 and receive the company contribution of 8% as well. . 

Marcon

timmy963 said:

4%/4% is standard for colleagues; my band is 4%/8%.

I can see where your employer is coming from. Badly worded, certainly, but I don't think you would be able to demonstrate that the company has contractually promised you 8% on all your earnings.

Check if you can pay more - it would be most unusual for that not to be an option in a defined contribution scheme, even if the employer won't increase their contributions any further.

timmy963

Might have a look at possibly increasing then, especially considering I've had a 5% pay rise recently. I've just had a look on our HR page and it does give the option to increase contribution to whatever I'd like. However, the company will only match 8% and only for pensionable earnings.

Funnily enough though, I've got a better pension than most colleagues/managers in the business because they only match like for like and up to 7.5% unless graded at store manager or above. My manager was pretty shocked when I told him a couple of weeks ago because I am getting better benefits at a lesser grade.

I've worked here for long enough to not really want to stir up trouble and draw too much attention to myself, so it's probably not worth the fight.

AskAsk

timmy963 said:

Might have a look at possibly increasing then, especially considering I've had a 5% pay rise recently. I've just had a look on our HR page and it does give the option to increase contribution to whatever I'd like. However, the company will only match 8% and only for pensionable earnings.

Funnily enough though, I've got a better pension than most colleagues/managers in the business because they only match like for like and up to 7.5% unless graded at store manager or above. My manager was pretty shocked when I told him a couple of weeks ago because I am getting better benefits at a lesser grade.

I've worked here for long enough to not really want to stir up trouble and draw too much attention to myself, so it's probably not worth the fight.

" I've just had a look on our HR page and it does give the option to increase contribution to whatever I'd like. However, the company will only match 8% and only for pensionable earnings."

that is what i read that contract wording to mean.  it states that you can pay 4% of all earnings and the company will pay 8%, but it doesn't actually state what salary the 8% employer contribution will be based on.  so it could revert back to pensionable earnings.  i don't think the wording promises employer contributions of 8% of all earnings.