To help people save more for their retirement, all employers are required by law to provide a workplace pension scheme for certain staff. If you are already in one of the Imperial’s pension schemes (USS, SAUL or NHSPS) nothing will happen – your membership will continue unaffected and there is no action for you to take.
If you are not in one of our schemes, we may now be required to re-enrol you into the scheme that you are eligible for. The date for our auto-enrolment is 1 July 2025.
If you meet all of the following criteria we are enrolling you into a pension scheme on 1 July 2025.
· You earn over £833.00 per month
· You are aged 22 or over and
· You are under the state pension age
· And ordinarily work in the UK.
Unless you wish to join the pension scheme before 1 July 2025 you need take no further action at this time and should wait for your personal email confirming you have been enrolled.
The FAQ’s below should tell you everything you need to know, but if you have further questions, please email pensions@imperial.ac.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is this happening?
- When is this happening?
- Which pension scheme will I join?
- How much will I pay?
- I was previously in the NHSPS, will I be re-enrolled into this scheme?
- What if I don’t want to join?
- If I opt-out now can I join later?
- What if I’m a casual worker?
- I have Fixed/Individual Protection – will I be enrolled?
- What if I’m already receiving a pension?
All employers are required by law to put their workers who meet the criteria below into a workplace pension scheme to help people save more for their retirement: -
- Are not already an active member of one of Imperial’s pension schemes
- You earn over £833.00 per month
- You are aged 22 or over and
- You are under the state pension age
- And ordinarily work in the UK.
We will enrol everyone who meets the criteria above into a pension scheme on 1 July 2025. The only exception will be if you have opted-out of the pension scheme between 1 June 2024 and 31 May 2025, you will not be enrolled until our next auto-enrolment anniversary in 2028, but you can request to join before then if you wish.
The pension scheme you will be enrolled in will depend on your grade and eligibility on 1 June 2025. More information on which scheme you are eligible for can be found here.
This will depend on which scheme you have joined. SAUL CARE and SAUL Start members currently contribute 6% of pensionable pay whilst USS members currently pay 6.1% of pensionable pay. The university operates salary exchange for pension contributions which means you’ll not only get tax relief but also save a little bit on the National Insurance that you pay. We call our salary exchange arrangement Pension Smart and this is what you will see on your payslip.
No. You are only eligible to re-join the NHSPS if you have contributed to it in the last 12 months and we cannot automatically enrol you back in. You will therefore be enrolled into either SAUL or USS (eligibility is dependent on your grade and role). If you have been in the NHSPS within the last 12 months and would like to re-join you will need to apply to do so. Please email pensions@imperial.ac.uk if you would like to do so.
Once you have been enrolled you can opt-out if you wish. You cannot do this until 1 June 2025 at the earliest. You can download an opt-out form by following this link. The law says we shouldn’t provide you with the form so please download and complete it yourself. Make sure you select the correct opt-out form. You can find which scheme you are eligible for in your confirmation email. If you need help with this, please email pensions@imperial.ac.uk.
There will be a short period at the start of each month when we are able to take action to prevent pension contributions being deducted in that month, please see table of dates below. If we receive your opt-out form after this period, and you have been enrolled in SAUL CARE or USS, your contributions will stop from the following month. If we receive your opt-out notice before 31 August 2025 we will be able to refund your contributions paid to either USS or SAUL CARE since 1 June in the next pay run. If you opt-out after 1 September, you will not be entitled to a refund of contributions, but your benefits will be held by your pension scheme until you retire or transfer them elsewhere.
If you have been enrolled into SAUL Start you must wait for your welcome email from Legal & General (L & G) which will explain how you can opt-out, and when you must do this by in order to gain a refund (usually 30 days from the date of the email). If you opt-out after this then you will not be able to ask for a refund.
FOR USS AND SAUL CARE MEMBERS |
|
Opt-out form deadline |
Month you will receive your refund |
10 June 2025 |
No contributions deducted |
10 July 2025 |
July |
8 August 2025 |
August |
31 August 2025 |
September |
1 September 2025 onwards |
No refund |
FOR SAUL START MEMBERS |
|
Opt-out form deadline |
Month you will receive your refund |
10 June 2025 |
No contributions deducted |
After 10 June 2025 |
Await L & G welcome email with instructions |
Yes, you can request to join the scheme at any time by contacting pensions@imperial.ac.uk.
You will still be enrolled into a pension scheme if you meet the criteria above. If you don’t meet the criteria on 1 June you will be enrolled as soon as you do in the future, unless you have opted-out.
If you have applied for protection of your Lifetime Allowance you will have been provided with written confirmation and a registration number by HMRC. As long as you have shared this with the Pensions and Payroll Team you will be excluded from auto enrolment. If you have not yet shared your registration please do so by emailing pensions@imperial.ac.uk.
You will still be enrolled into a pension scheme if you meet the criteria above. You will then start to build up a new pension pot which you will provide you with some additional pension when you retire again.
If you don’t meet the criteria above but are interested in building up a new pension pot you may still be eligible to join the pension scheme. If you are interested please email pensions@imperial.ac.uk