Automatic Enrolment FAQs

From 1 July 2013, a new law means that The LSE must put workers into a workplace pension scheme if they:

• are aged between 22 and State Pension age
• earn more than £8,105 a year (increasing to £9205 in April 2013)
• work in the UK

This is called ‘Automatic Enrolment’.

By making contributions to USS or SAUL you will get the following benefits:

• A regular income and tax free cash upon retirement
• Life cover from day one of scheme membership
• Incapacity cover from day one of membership
• Pension increases in line with increases once pension benefits come into payment
• The option of making additional extra pension contributions.

If you are a member of a pension scheme, you will continue to be a member unless you take action to opt out.

The main schemes operated by the School are:

• Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), for staff employed at salary band 6 and above who are not in receipt of pension benefits from USS
• Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London  (SAUL) for staff employed on salary bands 1-5

Members of USS and SAUL are automatically placed into an arrangement to participate in the schemes under the PensionPLUS contribution method, which reduces the amount of National Insurance contributions paid every month, resulting in higher take home pay.

PensionsPlus is a way to make pension payments. Members who make contributions this way could make additional National Insurance savings. Under this arrangement The LSE would reduce a members salary by the amount that they would normally pay into their pension, and The LSE then makes full pension contributions on the members behalf.

You should be aware that being a member of PensionPlus may mean that you will not be able to take a refund of contributions if you leave the scheme. 

If you are already part of a work Pension Scheme (USS or SAUL), you will normally receive a letter confirming that you are a member of a Scheme and that this Scheme matches the governments new rules.

If the Scheme that you are a member of is not suitable for any reason, you will be contacted by the Pensions team in advance of 1 July 2013.

When you’re enrolled into the pension scheme, The LSE must let you leave the pension scheme (called ‘opting out’) if you ask - and refund money you’ve paid if you opt out within 1 month.

Once you’ve left the School’s scheme, we will automatically enrol you back into their scheme every 3 years from the date the School first had to follow the new pension laws, as long as you still qualify. This will mean that 1 July 2016 will be the first time this happens. We will write to you when we do this.

This will depend on the Rules of the pension scheme, the length of time you have been a member and also the law at that time. At the moment there are a number of options which include: 

• leaving your pension saved in the scheme, for you to collect when you get to retirement age, called deferring your benefits;
• moving the pension you have built up into a different scheme, such as that of your new employers, called transferring your benefits; or
• having a refund of the contributions you have personally made into the Pension Scheme. You should be aware that this option is only available if you have been in the scheme for less than 2 years, and you have not been a PensionsPlus member.

This depends on the Scheme. Modelers of the cost for USS and SAUL are available on the website of each Scheme.

The LSE contributes a set percentage of your salary if you are making payments to the Scheme. These amounts are set by the Scheme to cover the expected costs of your pension, at the moment 13% of salary is asked for by SAUL, and 16% of salary is asked for by USS.

The Pension Team , based in Human Resources, can provide you with information about the two Schemes provided by the School (USS and SAUL), and can also answer questions about the possibility of moving (transferring) old pensions into these Schemes. The team cannot provide advice, as they are not Independent Financial Advisors.

They can be contacted in the following ways:

Email: l.j.loughlin@lse.ac.uk

Phone: 0207 106 1131

In Person: Human Resources, 2nd Floor, Sardinia House.