If you are an employee (for definition click here) your employer must provide you with access to a ‘stakeholder’ pension scheme within 3 months of starting your job if:
- they employ 5 or more ‘eligible’ workers (i.e. permanent staff, part-time staff, workers) and
- they do not operate another occupational scheme and/or a personal pension scheme that is open to all relevant employees
Under a
stakeholder scheme your Employer does not have to make contributions to your scheme but it has to provide a facility whereby your contributions are deducted from your pay and passed over to the scheme.
From October 2012 the Government’s pension auto-enrolment scheme starts, see our new Guide to this here.
If your Employer does not offer a Stakeholder Pension and they should, you can complain to the Pensions Regulator and they may be fined (click here).
Under new 2008 regulations your Employer has a statutory requirement to consult with members of their pension scheme (and their representatives) before making major changes to future pension arrangements, if they employ 50 or more employees.
Stakeholders pensions are also available to individuals and often they are a good option for Freelancers – for more information click here -
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Companyandpersonalpensions/PersonalPensions/DG_4017567
For a guide to Pension Plans and advice for Freelancers click here.
Image by Laura Mary
If you work in the UK Media Industries and have a question about this or any other topic, please e-mail us at workline@freelanceadvisor.co.uk
If you are an Employer and need ongoing professional help with any staff/freelance issues then talk to us at The HR Kiosk (click here) - a Human Resources Consultancy for small businesses – you can retain us for as much time as you need.
Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.
