Monthly Wage Slip and Missing Pension Contributions

singhini

Hi all
I've been enrolled into my company pension scheme this month, however in this months wage slip i was expecting to see pension contributions figures but there aren't any. 

I was told the pension is made up of 8% contributions which normally would be 3% employer and 5% me. However my employer pays the whole 8% and so i have asked not to contribute (i only work part-time and earn £1,000 a month so can't afford to pay anything in all honesty). 

Therefore i would expect my monthly wage slip to show employee contributions equal zero and employer contributions £38ish (However the wage slip shows nothing, no mention of pension anywhere). 

Is this right? 

This can't be right as i have no idea if money is actually being paid into my company pension scheme other than me asking the pension company to create me login details and me physically login into the pension scheme every month.

Your help is much appreciated. 

GrumpyDil

I think you need to check with your employer as it sounds to me like you have been treated as opting out of the scheme. 

Also what makes you think your employer will pay 8% with you paying nothing as that would be unusual. 

Marcon

singhini said:

Hi all
I've been enrolled into my company pension scheme this month, however in this months wage slip i was expecting to see pension contributions figures but there aren't any. 

I was told the pension is made up of 8% contributions which normally would be 3% employer and 5% me. However my employer pays the whole 8% and so i have asked not to contribute (i only work part-time and earn £1,000 a month so can't afford to pay anything in all honesty). 

Are you sure this isn't a salary sacrifice scheme? If not, you've got a great benefit if the employer foots the whole 8% with no requirement for employees to pay anything.

GrumpyDil said:

I think you need to check with your employer as it sounds to me like you have been treated as opting out of the scheme. 

If OP has asked 'not to contribute' that alone isn't enough to make them an opt out. They must be enrolled and only then can they opt out - and that has to be done using a formal procedure.

singhini said:

Therefore i would expect my monthly wage slip to show employee contributions equal zero and employer contributions £38ish (However the wage slip shows nothing, no mention of pension anywhere). 

Is this right? 

This can't be right as i have no idea if money is actually being paid into my company pension scheme other than me asking the pension company to create me login details and me physically login into the pension scheme every month.

If the employer pays the full cost of the scheme, it's entirely possible that nothing would show on your payslip.

Why wouldn't you set up online access to your pension to check everything is happening as it should? That's what many people do.

singhini

@GrumpyDil and @Marcon
Thankyou both for your quick responses, really appreciated (and apologies to you both i don't know how to do the cut and paste & response stuff).

@GrumpyDil i'm definitely in the pension scheme as the pension provider has sent me letters in the post telling me i am (that's how i knew i should be seeing £38.40 a month go into my pension).

@Marcon Yes the employer is paying the whole 8% as its only £38.40 a month and the company directors said its fine, they can afford it (to put this into context, there are only 2 employees other then the directors i.e. me and another person and so paying two lots of £38.40 is nothing for them. Basically they are paying £24 a month extra as they are already required to pay £14.40 ). 

@Marcon you said in your post "its entirely possible that nothing would show on your payslip"  - But why?? (makes no sense, it would only take the smallest amount of ink. BTW the wage slip is emailed and not even printed on paper). 

la531983

Is there a reason you need to see it on your wageslip?

If you don't believe they are paying it, ask for a pension statement at the first available opportunity.

An electronic wageslip is nothing unusual in this day and age tbf, I've not had paper ones for 11 years 

Devongardener

Some pension schemes require employees to make contributions, if they don’t then the employer doesn’t have to.  You need to check the rules of your scheme.
If the employer is making contributions and you are not, then it won’t show on your payslip as it has nothing to do with the calculation of your net pay, and the payroll software is likely to be set up that way.

I’m surprised that you don’t already have online access to your pension account, I’d advise you to set it up without delay so that you can  see exactly what is happening.

singhini

Thankyou all.
As advised i have just contacted the pension company who have confirmed the first employer payment went in and also they have explained how to set up an online account which i have just done.

NOTE--TO--MYSELF:    Still makes no sense why the employer contribution can't feature on the wage slip. They could, but they don't, yet if they were on the wage slip it would make it easier for me and i would see the amount on the wage slip and i would think to myself what lovely employers i work for. 

Marcon

singhini said:

Thankyou all.
As advised i have just contacted the pension company who have confirmed the first employer payment went in and also they have explained how to set up an online account which i have just done.

NOTE--TO--MYSELF:    Still makes no sense why the employer contribution can't feature on the wage slip. They could, but they don't, yet if they were on the wage slip it would make it easier for me and i would see the amount on the wage slip and i would think to myself what lovely employers i work for. 

Have you any idea how few employees ever look at anything on their wage slips...?! There's usually no merit in putting something on there which isn't required by statute and is likely to add to the confusion of any employee who does read (and misunderstand it - yes, people do...).

singhini said:

@Marcon you said in your post "its entirely possible that nothing would show on your payslip"  - But why?? (makes no sense, it would only take the smallest amount of ink. BTW the wage slip is emailed and not even printed on paper). 

It's not the ink - it's the change to the payroll software which is the major consideration.

penners324

Login into your pension and check

Exodi

singhini said:

Thankyou all.
As advised i have just contacted the pension company who have confirmed the first employer payment went in and also they have explained how to set up an online account which i have just done.

NOTE--TO--MYSELF:    Still makes no sense why the employer contribution can't feature on the wage slip. They could, but they don't, yet if they were on the wage slip it would make it easier for me and i would see the amount on the wage slip and i would think to myself what lovely employers i work for. 

You keep saying this but I have yet to ever be in any job ever where employer pension contributions are recorded on the employees payslip.

Employee pension contributions are generally featured on a payslip, as tax is deducted from it.
The employee is not charged tax on the employers contributions. If the employee is part of a salary sacrifice scheme, it is not uncommon for these pension contributions to not be included on the payslip as no tax is deducted.

If you're going to go down the rabbit hole of arguing that employer pension contributions should be featured (even though they're irrelevant to your pay), then why not just include all the employers overheads on it? Is it not also confusing... because you're not deducting employer contributions from the employee, yet you'd need to 'pretend' to pay them it so you can deduct them the same amount on the payslip (and deal with the tax...).

As others have said, create an online pension account and you can see the money going in your pension account every month and 'think to myself what lovely employers i work for'. Payslips have a specific purpose.

BrassicWoman

I've seen employers contributions on payslips to remind employees of an extra benefit they get and help them feel better about work.