Changes
What we need to know
It is the employer's responsibility to tell Wiltshire Pension Fund about any changes that could affect a Scheme members pension. Changes in employment often occur and it is extremely rare that an employee starts a job and their conditions are exactly the same when they leave.
What you need to do
You must tell us about these changes in employment as soon as possible by completing a change form (by hand or electronically). When you need to inform us of multiple changes, particularly if you have high volumes, you can also do this by completing the same fields in a spreadsheet. (Please contact us first before doing this).
The changes we need to be made aware of are:
- changes of hours or weeks
- change of name and marital status
- change of address
- different types of leave other than paid annual leave
- changes of National Insurance Number
- opting out or back into the scheme
Each area in more detail
Changes in hours or weeks
Please notify us of these changes immediately. We need to know about any changes in hours or weeks, however small, as these are an essential component of our calculations and will affect the members pension substantially if they are wrong.
Change of name
Please tell us about any legal name change, for example, marriage, civil partnership registration or deed poll etc. We would also need to see a copy of the relevant certificates.
Change of address
This is particularly important because we need to send communication to home addresses.
Change of National Insurance Number
The National Insurance Number is our main reference number, so we need to know of any change immediately.
Opting out of the Scheme
Please refer to our section on the website about leavers.
Opting back in to the Scheme
If an employee chooses to rejoin the pension scheme you must treat them as a new starter and follow the new starter procedure again. The employee needs to either complete an 'Opt-in' form (available from our forms section of the website) or write a letter to you to confirm their wish to do this.
Common problems
We frequently find that we do not receive notification of the above changes. This generates a high volume of queries during the year end contribution posting exercise and at the time of subsequent events such as, the member leaving. It is vital that we are notified of each and every change in the above areas, however small.
Some example change forms are supplied to assist you.
Wiltshire Pension Fund, Wiltshire Council - Bythesea Road,Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 8JN.
© 2009 Wiltshire Pension Fund.