Pensions Auto-Enrolment
7 March 2013
From April 1st 2013 the University will be required to automatically enrol all staff into a workplace pension scheme if they are not already in one.
This obligatory Government led initiative is designed to help workers save more for their later life, recognising that millions of people are not saving enough to have the income they are likely to want in retirement.
Staff affected by auto-enrolment will:
- Not already be in a qualifying pension scheme;
- Be aged 22 or over;
- Be under State Pension age;
- Earn more than the auto-enrolment earnings threshold which, from April 2013 will be £9,440 per annum (£786 per month); and
- Work or usually work in the UK
The majority of University staff are already members of a pension scheme and so will be unaffected by auto-enrolment. However, approximately 700 members of staff are not and from April 1st will either be auto-enrolled into either the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) or the Cardiff University Pension Fund (CUPF) as appropriate or be reminded that they have the right to join one of those two schemes. In addition, casual workers, external examiners and student demonstrators who fulfil the above criteria will also be auto-enrolled into a new government sponsored pension scheme, NEST.
Mike Davies, Director of Finance said: "At present, many workers fail to take up valuable pension benefits because they do not apply to join their employer's scheme. This new initiative is designed to overcome this and help people save more for their retirement.
"Whilst all staff eligible for auto-enrolment will have the option to opt out, we would strongly recommend that people consider this hassle free way of saving while you earn."
All staff eligible for auto-enrolment will be contacted by the University closer to the implementation date offering further information and explaining how they go about opting out of the scheme.
If a member of staff opts out or stops paying into the workplace pension then the University has a duty to automatically enrol them back into their pension scheme at regular intervals – usually every three years.
If you have any questions or concerns about auto-enrolment please contact AEqueries@cardiff.ac.uk