UEL launches new Retirement and Savings Plan

Wednesday 27 March 2013

UEL are launching a brand new Retirement and Savings Plan to coincide with new Government legislation that will require us to enroll all staff in an occupational pension scheme. In the past staff have previously opted out of the pension schemes due to costs, so the new scheme has been designed with this in mind.

Currently, around 75% of support staff are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and 84% of academic staff are in the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS). This means that a sizeable number of staff do not belong to a pension scheme at UEL.

From 1 July 2013, new Government legislation will require UEL to enrol staff in an occupational pension scheme, irrespective of whether they have previously opted out of one. This is in response to concerns that people are not making sufficient provisions to fund their retirement.

From 1 May 2013, all staff who are not in a UEL pension scheme (LGPS or TPS) will be entered into a new defined contribution (DC) Pension Scheme. This scheme will be provided by Friends Life, who have recently been selected by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) as the scheme provider across the HE Sector. Many other universities have also expressed a keen interest in this new scheme.

UEL will contribute 10% of pensionable pay towards the scheme (with no employee contribution required).

The benefits that members of the new scheme will receive and the arrangements relating to it are described below.

For those staff who are not currently in a scheme, UEL have arranged a series of presentations to provide further information:

Tueday 9 April	Temporary building, RB 2.23, Stratford Campus	11am- 12 noon
Tuesday 9 April	KD 2.20, Docklands Campus	2-3pm
Tuesday 16 April	Temporary building, RB 2.23, Stratford Campus	11am- 12 noon
Tuesday 16 April	KD 2.20, Docklands Campus	2-3pm
Monday 22 April	ED 2.01, Stratford Campus	11am- 12 noon
Monday 22 April	KD 2.20, Docklands Campus	2-3pm

To book a place on one of these sessions, please email PlanPresentation@uel.ac.uk. Bookings will be made on a first-come-first-served basis.

Key benefits:

Death- in-service benefits and ill-health provisions - at no cost to staff - will be included, the details of which will be given to staff shortly;
A suggested retirement age in line with State Pension Age (currently 65, but staff will be free to make changes to this);
The option for staff to pay additional contributions which will be matched by UEL in a ratio of 1.5% for each contribution staff make of 1%, up to a maximum contribution from staff of 4%. If staff choose to contribute the maximum 4%, they can have a total contribution of 20% into the scheme (UEL paying 16% and you paying 4%).

Next steps

From 1 May 2013, UEL will automatically enrol staff who are not in the LGPS pr TPS into the new Plan. They will not have to make any contribution at all from their pay, if they do not wish to and an amount equivalent to 10% of the staff member’s monthly pensionable pay will be paid by UEL into his or her pension 'pot' each month.

The staff who are being automatically enrolled will receive an email from Friends Life with details of their own personal web space where they can manage (if they wish to do so) the range of investment fund options available for their pension investment. Here, staff will also be able to make additional contributions, and take advantage of a wide range of financial and investment data and tools to help decide on the appropriate options for them.

Your choice of scheme

Please note that the introduction of this scheme does not take away the current statutory right to rejoin the LGPS if s/he is a support staff member or TPS if s/he is an academic member of staff eligible to do so. Staff remain eligible to join the scheme appropriate to their role at any time.

UEL will only contribute to one pension scheme at a time on behalf of its staff. If staff are an active member of the LGPS, TPS or NHS pension schemes or remain in the new UEL Plan, then UEL will continue to pay the employer’s contributions to that one provider on the staff member’s behalf.

Opting out of the UEL Retirement and Savings Plan

Staff can opt out of the Retirement and Savings Plan from 1 May onwards, provided it is within one month of joining (i.e. by 1 June 2013). Those who join the scheme after 1 May 2013 will also have one month to leave the scheme, beginning on the date of the confirmed enrolment by Friends Life. This one month period includes a statutory 14- day ‘cooling off’ period that will apply when staff are enrolled; staff will be treated as if they had never joined.

Beyond the first month, staff will still retain the right to leave the Retirement and Pension Plan any time, in which case their pension ‘pot’ would be frozen until they become entitled to draw benefits.

If staff decide to opt out of the Plan after 1 May 2013, UEL will be obliged to enrol them in the LGPS or TPS schemes (appropriate to their roles) on 1 October 2017 to meet the Government’s requirement that all staff at UEL are enrolled in a pension scheme (although staff will be able to opt out of the scheme after then). Staff may choose to re-join LGPS or TPS (appropriate to their role) at any stage in employment at UEL.

Liability

Friends Life is responsible for providing the Retirement and Pension scheme and UEL accepts no liability for any Friends Life acts or omissions involved, as the staff member will be entering into an agreement with Friends Life. However the decision to appoint Friends Life has been taken on the basis of detailed professional advice and by considering the suitability of the arrangement for our staff, which we take very seriously.

UEL is making a significant financial commitment by introducing this scheme so we want it to be a valued and successful arrangement for our staff. A new UEL governance group will regularly review the scheme and it reserves the right to replace Friends Life as the selected provider in the future, if necessary.

Financial advice

As an employer, UEL is only allowed to provide options and not advise staff on their pension choice. We are therefore arranging for a list of independent financial advisors to be drawn up, whom staff who will be automatically enrolled into the new UEL scheme may chose to seek additional support and advice when making the choice. Details of these providers will be included in the information they receive from Friends Life.