What is Auto-enrolment?

The government requires all UK employers to automatically enrol all their ‘eligible jobholders’ into their pension plan. To be an eligible jobholder, you must be between age 22 and your State Pension Age, earn at least £10,000 a year (or £833 a month) and work in the UK.

If you are an eligible jobholder at DHL but are not currently contributing to the DHL Group Retirement Plan, you will be automatically enrolled three months after joining employment, or three months after becoming eligible (if later). The part of the Plan that relates to Auto-enrolment members is called “the Auto-enrolment Schedule”.

After you have been enrolled, you can opt out if you wish. Even if you are not an eligible jobholder, you can opt in to the Auto-enrolment Schedule if you wish, but you should also consider any alternative pension arrangements your DHL employer offers you. If you’re unsure whether other sections of the Plan are available to you, you can ask your HR Department.

Key features of the Auto-enrolment Schedule

You and DHL pay contributions to your pension savings.

You receive tax relief on salary used to make contributions to the Plan (up to certain limits) – see “How much you pay”, below.

You can choose when to take your pension savings (currently, the earliest you can do so is from age 55).

You also get valuable benefits for your loved ones if you die.

You can opt out if you wish, but you will be re-enrolled every three years if you are still eligible.

How much you pay

If you are auto-enrolled, you will pay contributions to the Plan and DHL will also make a contribution. These rates depend on your own personal circumstances. Your summary leaflet will tell you the percentage you contribute, or you can ask the Pensions Department.

You pay through a ‘salary conversion’ arrangement called Penwise. A pension deduction made in this way qualifies for tax and National Insurance relief. For example, under current tax rates and rules, a £100 contribution for a basic rate taxpayer would cost £80 (with the 20% tax rate saving or even less with the NI saving if you contribute through Penwise).

Read more about Penwise.

If you leave the Company

You don’t need to opt out of Auto-enrolment before leaving service. Your HR Department will tell us when you leave service, and we’ll then send details of your pension options to your address held on our records.

What happens to your contributions if you opt out

If you opt out within the first calendar month of joining, member contributions will be refunded by Payroll less tax and you will be treated as though you never joined.

If you leave after one month you can either leave your pension account invested or transfer it to another registered pension arrangement.

Opting in or out

You can opt in or opt out of Auto-enrolment at any time by completing the opting in or opting out forms.

Did you know?

The government expects all UK employers to ‘automatically re-enrol’ eligible jobholders into their pension plan every three years. This means DHL employers must ensure that eligible jobholders who opted out at least 12 months before the re-enrolment date are enrolled again into the Plan’s Auto-enrolment Schedule.

Once you have been automatically re-enrolled, you will remain a contributing member in the Plan’s Auto-enrolment Schedule unless you choose to opt out or cease membership.