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We all know pensions are essential. In line with auto-enrolment requirements, it’s likely you’ll have many employees contributing to pension schemes at your School or Trust. From teachers to support staff, employees must take a proactive approach to their pension by understanding their responsibilities in checking their personal accounts.
One frequent query when it comes to pensions is a data mismatch - where the data held by the pension fund doesn’t match the employee data reported by the employer. Such discrepancies can lead to service gaps or misallocated funds, so it’s vital that employees take an active role in checking their pension record and promptly report any discrepancies.
Which pension scheme? Understanding TPS and LGPS
In education settings, teachers are typically enrolled in the Teachers’ Pension scheme (TPS), while support staff join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Contributions to these schemes are deducted from employees' salaries each month and paid across to the required pension fund. From here, the fund allocates your employees contributions to their record.
For our EPM customers, pension contributions will be BACSed across to the fund each month as part of your monthly payroll. Dependant on fund requirements, a monthly return will also be submitted to both TP and your LGPS scheme to inform the fund how much has been contributed by each employee (your contributions as an employer are also recorded)
Queries can occur when there is a mismatch between data held by the fund for the employee, and the data submitted in your monthly return to the fund. For this reason, we encourage employees to take a proactive approach to checking their pension records to ensure their contributions are allocated correctly.
Teachers Pensions
For teaching staff contributing to pension, it is likely that they will be enrolled into the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme. Teaching staff can access their personal records through the Teachers’ Pensions self-service portal (Hyperlink) My portal online.
We recommend regularly checking that the following personal information is up to date:
- Date of Birth
- National Insurance Number
- Teachers’ Reference Number (TRN). (Note: most people who are eligible are given this number automatically, but they can apply to the DfE for this number if eligible (Teacher reference number (TRN) - GOV.UK).
One common query we see from schools with TP is missing service, often due to mismatches between employee records and submitted payroll data. To prevent gaps in service, teachers can review their personal records on the self-service TP portal to ensure that their service history is accurate and complete.
Support staff pensions
Most support staff employees enrolled into pensions will contribute to your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS scheme). Depending on your location, LGPS schemes will differ in the way employees can access their pension record.
Your LGPS Scheme may have access to an online employee portal. Just like TPS for teachers, it’s advisable for LGPS members to regularly verify personal details and service history for accuracy.
The importance of monthly payslip checks
While it’s always good practice to review monthly payslips, it’s especially important for employees to be aware of their expected pension contributions and check that the correct pension contributions are being deducted each month.
Regular checks can help catch errors early on, making discrepancies easier to resolve.
Proactive pension management
By consistently reviewing service history, personal details, and monthly payslips, employees can take charge of their pension enrolment and avoid potential issues.
