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Human Resources

Auto-Enrolment

You may have recently seen articles in the media regarding pension scheme auto enrolment.  This is resulting from a change in legislation which will affect Queen Mary from 1st May 2013.  If you are already in a Queen Mary pension scheme you will not notice any change.

From this date if you are not already in one of our schemes and satisfy the job holder criteria below you will be automatically enrolled.

Why is this happening?

The government’s aim is for more people to have another income, on top of the State Pension, when they come to retire. The full basic State Pension in 2015-16 is £115.95 a week for a single person. This is intended to be a foundation - you may want more.

Employers are enrolling their workers automatically into a scheme to make it easier for people to start saving.

What does this mean for you?

If you are not in a pension scheme and you satisfy the following criteria you will be automatically enrolled into the Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London CARE Plan (SAUL CARE) or the University Superannuation Scheme Career Revalued Benefits (USS CRB) depending upon your grade ore grade equivalent salary.

Job Holder criteria 

  • earn over £10,000 a year (£833 a month)
  • are aged 22 or over; and
  • are under State Pension age.

You can choose to opt out of the scheme if you wish (this cannot be done until after 1st May 2013), but if you stay in:

  • Queen Mary (QM) and you will both pay into a Pension every month
  • The government will also contribute through tax relief (Tax relief means some of your money that would have gone to the government as tax now goes into your pension instead) and you will be enrolled via the salary sacrifice scheme (known as Pensions Plus) thus also saving you some National Insurance.  If you wish to be in the pension scheme, but not pay via Pensions Plus then please let the QM pensions team know.
  • Your take home pay will fall, but you will be generating pension benefits for yourself, Life cover, Ill-Health retirement benefits, plus possible additional spouse, civil partner and some other dependents benefits, depending upon your personal circumstances.
  • Your pension belongs to you, even if you leave QM in the future

Where can I get further information?

Further details can be found in the letter, which will be sent to you and the frequently asked questions on the link below:

FAQ's [PDF 136KB]                                                                                              

If you have a query on becoming a member of the pension scheme please contact: the QM Pension team on pension@qmul.ac.uk

If you want more information on pensions and saving for later life visit:

https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions

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