Pension consultation

Marcon

Ordinarily this is all fine and dandy for most businesses, except, for example, one where they provide a contractual percentage contribution to a salary sacrifice pension, even to low paid staff that were already near the NMW.

It's always open to the employer (after consultation, as appropriate) to base pension contributions on 'band' earnings rather than the whole salary.

So it's as I thought, incredibly deceptive and misleading to a apply an example of a pay rise to only one of the scenarios.

Maybe the employer doesn't grasp what's going on? That example is so unsubtle as to be untrue!

I'd be interested in the Maths of it - whether giving everyone the 4.1% increase this year (in line with NMW increase) combined with the saving in employer NI is better or worse than giving everyone 2%, moving everyone off sal sac, and paying employer NI on everything.

I do wonder where the employer is getting their advice, if indeed they are getting any. Using salary sacrifice almost invariably makes financial sense - and if wages are reduced to just pennies below minimum wage, that's easy enough to resolve by paying a non-pensionable bonus of a couple of pounds a month.

Totallyodd

Just as an update….. we have been advised that the 2% will be an uplift, if we accept the new way they are doing the pension. This will be put in place on acceptance, although no date given - so potentially could be later than the pay rise is due (end of June). We have also been advised that this will be in place of any pay rise this year. On asking if the pay rise was greater than 2% if this would also be awarded to us. We were assured that that pay rise will not be over 2%.

None of this information has been offered to us, but by way of emails asking the questions.

Andy_L

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81953204#Comment_81953204

Assuming the payrise isn't contractual but normal "cost of living" negotiation then an employer can refuse a payrise for any non-discriminatory reason they like.