SAUL Start is available for staff in the professional, technical, operational and learning job families, grade 3b and below, who joined from 1 April 2023. Imperial automatically enters all eligible staff into a pension scheme, as required by law. SAUL Start members build a pension pot, which you take as income or a cash lump sum on retirement. SAUL Start is a Defined-Contribution pension scheme with employee and employer contributions invested to help it grow. The SAUL Trustee has chosen a default investment option, but you can choose a different fund from an available range.

Members join the scheme for three years and then transfer to SAUL Care, where they will build up a pension based on their salary.

Legal and General administers the SAUL Start pension scheme. For more information, visit their website: Legal & General—SAUL.

Further Information

Eligibility

SAUL Care is for staff in Professional, Technical, Operational, and Learning grades, Level 3b and below, and Assistant Teaching Fellow and Teaching Fellow grades who joined from 1 April 2023.

Imperial automatically enrols all eligible staff into a pension scheme, as required by law.

The scheme and what you will get

Being a SAUL Start member means you'll get:

  • a pension pot from which you can choose to take an income, or cash, or a combination of both
  • your pension pot as a tax-free lump sum if you're too ill to work (certain conditions apply)
  • a portable pension - you can take your pension pot with you if you change employment
  • If you die, your beneficiaries will receive a tax-free lump sum of eight times your salary plus the value of your pension pot.

You can learn more about retirement options in the Retiring from SAUL section of the SAUL website.

You can find out how your pension is calculated on the How do you work out my pension section of the SAUL website.

Contributions/How much it costs

You pay 6% of your salary into SAUL Start.

The money you pay in is taken from your annual salary plus any permanent allowances (for example, London weighting or responsibility allowance) and overtime. Bonuses and commissions are not included.

Imperial pays towards your pension, too. We will pay contributions of 15% of your salary plus an extra 1% to help cover the costs of running the death-in-service benefits plan.

Investing your pension savings

When you join SAUL Start, your savings will be invested in the default investment option.

If you would like to make your own investment decisions, Legal & General's website provides more information about the choices available.

Opting out

For members who joined Imperial after 1 April 2023, and are currently in the job family, grade 3b or below, and are contributing to the SAUL START pension scheme. If you wish to opt out, please follow the guidance below.

You can refer to your contract of employment to check which scheme you are registered in or will be auto-enrolled into. NOTE: You cannot opt out of a pension scheme before your start date, or, if you are a casual worker, until you have been auto-enrolled into a pension scheme.

  • SAUL Start Opt out form - For new members submitting this form with their new starter checklist on day one (Option 1)
  • Legal & General (SAUL Start) - This isn't for me - For members who have been enrolled for more than 30 days (Option 2- you will need to opt out via manage your account, please note if you opt out after 30 days, you have no refund option)

Worksave Choice is the enrolment management service for Legal & General. Your welcome communication from Legal & General will confirm your enrolment code and opt-out deadline date. You will need these to complete the opt-out process.

Manage your account is your Legal & General online account. Your welcome pack from Legal & General will confirm your customer reference number, which you will need to register and opt out.