Employer Contribution Pension

gaillimh

Hi all.

I have a question re company pension schemes.
Basically I'm wondering how usual it is for the percentage of your salary that is contributed to your pension to not come off your gross pay, but instead come off what is termed "pensionable" pay?

I have only recently started this and tbh I didn't even look at my payslip the first 2-3 months. It is only now that I've noticed that the 5% contribution amount is not actually 5% of my gross pay (the company contributes another 7.5%).

It seems as if the "pensionable salary" that the 5% comes from is my gross pay minus an amount that is linked in some way to the state pension.
(My own "5%" contribution is about €90 less than 5% of my gross and hence the company pays in approx €135 less as a result).

Is this normal? I am extremely new to the area of pensions so want to have a bit of research done before asking any questions at work.

Cheers for any advice.

AnRothar

What does your pension documentation say?

lulut

Yes this is usually the way with defined benefit pensions i think. Pensionable pay is less than your gross amount. With Defined contribution pension you pay on your gross pay