Auto enrolment for 18 year old

lg13mza

I've managed to convince my 18 year old son to ask his employer to allow him to join the company pension. He showed me his first payslip with his contributions on. It didn't look like enough had gone into the pension to me. He queried it with his employer and they came back saying contributions are not made on the first £120 per week. There is also no employer contributions showing on his payslip. My employer has always shown their contributions on my payslip.

Does this sound right? We don't currently have his account details for the pension so can't check what has gone in yet.

Peter999_2

Yes, that is exactly how it works. There are no employer contributions on his payslip as they don't have to legally. They do have to pay it - but it is seen as an employers expense and nothing to do with the employees wage slip.

There's a link here detailing the £120 "qualifying" amount.

Qualifying earnings at a glance - now:pensions

molerat

The legal requirement is based on earnings above £6240 pa / £120 pw so the tight fisted employer is correct on that front. You will have to wait and see if the employer is contributing as it is not a legal requirement to show these on a payslip.

la531983

Ive never had employes contributions on my payslips ever.

Marcon

The legal requirement is based on earnings above £6240 pa / £120 pw so the tight fisted employer is correct on that front.

It does seem to be an unhappy habit on this forum to criticise employers for meeting their statutory obligations. Maybe it would be better to recognise that for many employers, staying solvent means controlling costs - often quite rigidly. They aren't some sort of benevolent outfit with limitless pockets.

With youth unemployment at record levels, and the cost of employing a young person so high it deters many employers, it's not particularly responsible or helpful to suggest that an employer is 'tight fisted' when you know nothing whatsoever about their financial situation or how good the rest of the employment package is. An 18 year old with a job is very good news - and even better that they're joining a pension scheme. Don't knock it!

eastcorkram

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028120#Comment_82028120

I've certainly had that for the last 15 years. Not sure about before that though.

NormalNorman

Both my current payslips show employer conts.

More importantly, I need to convince my 18 year old to opt into her workplace scheme but can't see past the end of her nose, lol!

I've paid into a pension for her from birth but at some point I'd like to stop that and pass the baton to her.

Thanks.

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028079#Comment_82028079

On what basis are you calling them "tight fisted"? Bizarre.

Albermarle

Just for info, from MSE website.

The Government is considering ways to get more people into auto-enrolment, including lowering the qualifying age to 18, starting contributions from the first £1 earned and bringing the self-employed into auto-enrolment – but there is no set date for when this will come into effect.

Intoodeep

Joined our scheme in 1988 until retiring at 60 in 2024, I was the Payroll Manager and we always showed both the Employee and Employer Contributions on the Employee Payslips.

lg13mza

Thanks all, great help as usual. I'll make sure he gets a login and checks employer contributions.