Pension deductions not being paid in

Soundgirlrocks

Mods if this is better in the pension board please say but I figured it's more of a work issue.

As part of getting more organised I finally downloaded and set up my Aviva app so I can see my workplace pension (and hopefully motivate myself to save a bit more!)

I noticed that the contributions are a bit all over the place, with some not being done for months and then several months paid in at once. I work for a small company which is a subsidiary of a larger firm and I strongly suspect it's just my boss being disorganised and forgetting to do the transfers rather than a cashflow issue but it's irritated me. I feel the money should be transferred on payday or the day after not months after. Should I mention it ?

TrickyDicky101

Is this all employer's contribution (which would include any pension amounts from salary sacrifice) or are these amounts deducted from your earnings listed on your payslip?

I'm a bit out of date (by about 25 years) but it used to be the case that for Employee contributions I think it was the payments needed to reach the pension scheme by day 19 of the following month to which they related.  The same doesn't hold true for Employer cont'ns though.

Thrugelmir

Ask your employers payroll department what's happening.  Any number of factors at play. Including Aviva have internal issues due to Covid. 

Jaybee_16

When you must pay your contributions

You need to pay your contributions to your staff pension scheme on time. This includes calculating and deducting contributions from your staff's salaries. You must agree the due dates for paying contributions to the scheme with your trustee or provider.

However the law requires that when you deduct contributions from your staff's pay you must pay these to your staff pension scheme no later than the 22nd day (19th if you pay by cheque) of the next month.

Employers pension contributions funding | The Pensions Regulator

f5morg

I would double check you're actually right and then mention it, it shouldn't be a problem for payroll/hr to answer that question, because once you've been enrolled it should be deposited regularly.

I had to do the same at one point, and then checked with pension provider as well and it was a problem on employer's end. The above information from pensions regulator was also helpful to me so I second visiting that site. 

Resolve first with employer, double check with provider, if still not sorted go to pensions regulator

Soundgirlrocks

f5morg said:

It shouldn't be a problem for payroll/hr to answer that question, because once you've been enrolled it should be deposited regularly.

Resolve first with employer

double check with provider, if still not sorted go to pensions regulator

Yep, my problem is we don’t have a HR department. I’m fairly certain that my boss does the payments, I’m concerned that if I raise it with him it will effect our working dynamic. Nobody like to be called out when they aren’t doing something right especially by a junior!

Marcon

Soundgirlrocks said:

f5morg said:

It shouldn't be a problem for payroll/hr to answer that question, because once you've been enrolled it should be deposited regularly.

Resolve first with employer

double check with provider, if still not sorted go to pensions regulator

Yep, my problem is we don’t have a HR department. I’m fairly certain that my boss does the payments, I’m concerned that if I raise it with him it will effect our working dynamic. Nobody like to be called out when they aren’t doing something right especially by a junior!

Could you raise it by saying something along the lines of 'not sure how this pension thing works, please could you explain it to me?'. Making yourself sound the dim one (sorry!) can often get what you want by ensuring the other person - especially a boss making a mess of things - doesn't feel diminished in the process.

TBagpuss

Soundgirlrocks said:

f5morg said:

It shouldn't be a problem for payroll/hr to answer that question, because once you've been enrolled it should be deposited regularly.

Resolve first with employer

double check with provider, if still not sorted go to pensions regulator

Yep, my problem is we don’t have a HR department. I’m fairly certain that my boss does the payments, I’m concerned that if I raise it with him it will effect our working dynamic. Nobody like to be called out when they aren’t doing something right especially by a junior!

Would it work if you approached it as "I realised that it's actually a breach of the rules, and I'm concerned that the company could get into trouble if t is picked up, so I wanted to let you know so that can be avoided" - that way, you aren't framing it of a criticism of the boss but as a heads-up that you've become aware of something that has the potential to cause them problems, that you're looking to help them fix.

 It's a bit disingenuous but might enable you to get it sorted without damaging your working relationship 

Savvy_Sue

I don't know who your company uses for pensions, but where I work, we get an email PDQ if we miss making a payment, with threats to report us to the Pension Regulator if we don't get our act together. So while you can ask in all innocence, I'd be surprised if the boss wasn't aware that they are not as organised as they should be ... 

kimwp

Is it definitely not going in for months? My company pension is with Aviva too and when I look at the statement it sometimes looks like that but it's because they group the contributions by the month that they receive it and that can be affected by where payday falls in relation to weekends, bank holidays etc because our payday is near the end of the month. So month 1 and 2 contributions could be received within calendar month 1 and month 3 and 4 contributions could be received in calendar month 4 and so it looks like there is a big gap. Might be worth calling Aviva before talking to your boss.

Soundgirlrocks

So I mentioned it to my boss and he admitted that he forgets to do it every month and he needs to hand it over to HQ for them to process.  Hopefully, now he knows I've noticed he will be a bit more organised! It's good to know there is legislation but in the grand scheme of things I don't think it's worth causing a fuss if he sorts his act out, fingers crossed but I'll be keeping an eye on it!