Whitbread

PAYMENT OPTIONS
FOR SECTION A MEMBERS

How much should you pay?

If you are in Section A, you’ll pay 5% of everything you earn between £520 and £4,189 each month. Whitbread will pay in 3%.

However, you may want to consider choosing the 5% pension option. It may cost you more than Section A costs you because the amount you pay would be worked out using the whole of your basic pay. But you’ll get more for what you pay because Whitbread will also pay in 5%. You would also get a death benefit and ill-health benefit.

Use our pension payment calculator to see how much you would pay and how much Whitbread would pay.

If you want to stay in Section A, you do not need to do anything.

Pension payment calculator

Please note that the cost estimates provided by this calculator are based on your gross pay and basic pay figures. These figures may change month by month and each year following any pay review. This means that the figures shown may be different in practice. If they have changed, then you can enter them in the boxes below.

Login here to get information that’s specific to you

If you log in above, these pay details will be filled in for you. If you want to, or your pay has changed, you can type in your own pay numbers and click the start button.

How much you and Whitbread will pay

If you choose the 5% pension option, the extra paid by you each month will result in a total extra being paid into your pension each month. You would also get a death benefit and ill-health benefit.

If you are a taxpayer, then the extra cost to you will be less than if you choose the 5% option, as you get something called tax relief. Tax relief means that by paying more into the pension scheme, you pay less tax. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, every £1 extra you pay into your pension only reduces your take-home pay by 80p, so the extra cost of choosing the 5% option will only be .

In your case, because your gross monthly pay is quite a bit higher than your basic monthly pay, it would cost you more to stay in the AE Scheme. However, you’d save more into your pension. Your gross pay figure includes any overtime and bonus you might get, so think about whether it’s likely to change from month to month.

In your case, because your gross monthly pay is slightly higher than your basic monthly pay, the 5% pension option actually works out as the cheaper option for you – plus you get a higher payment from Whitbread. Your gross pay figure includes any overtime and bonus you might get, so think about whether it’s likely to change from month to month.

Please note that the above figures may not always add up correctly due to rounding.

If you are in Section A, then the amount that goes into your pension each month is based on everything you earn between £520 and £4,189 (known as your ‘qualifying earnings’). This includes any overtime and bonus you earn. You pay 5% and Whitbread pays 3% of your qualifying earnings.

If you choose one of the pension options, then the amount that goes into your pension is based on your basic pay. This is your contractual pay and does not include any bonus or overtime. If you’re paid on an hourly basis, your basic pay is your contracted hours at your hourly rate. If you’re paid a salary, it’s your normal basic pay. There are six contribution options: you can pay between 5% and 10% of your basic pay, and Whitbread will pay the same as you. So, if you choose the 5% pension option, Whitbread will also pay in 5%.

If you choose the 5% pension option, you might pay in more than if you were in Section A (because your basic pay will usually be higher than your qualifying earnings, although it does depend on how much bonus and overtime you earn). However, remember that Whitbread’s contribution will probably be quite a lot bigger – which means it’s worth thinking about. Also, if you choose one of the pension options, you would get death and ill-health benefits which you don’t get in Section A.

If you pay tax you also get something called tax relief. With tax relief, some of the money you would normally pay in tax to the Government goes into your pension instead. What this means is that the total shown above will go into your pension but it will actually cost you less than the amount shown above. If you don’t pay tax, then you don’t get tax relief.

If you want to choose a pension option, click here to go to the Join page. But, if you want to stay in Section A, you do not need to do anything. Please note, if you choose a pension option, you can’t later choose to move back to Section A.