Church Workers Pension Fund has three sections. Each one is slightly different - members build up pension in different ways and the costs are different.
Pension Builder 2014 – members build up a guaranteed pot which they can use flexibly at retirement. This is likely to be the most suitable scheme as it offers good protection for members with low Section 75 risk for employers
Pension Builder Classic – members build up a guaranteed pension which offers great security for members, but can come at an additional Section 75 risk for employers
Defined Benefit Scheme – this scheme is now closed to future accrual
How to sign up as an employer
If your work is associated with the Church of England, you are welcome to use Pension Builder 2014.
If you would like to join, follow these steps:
Pension scheme rules
Before joining, you are welcome to read a copy of our full Trust Deed and Rules.
Section 75 for CWPF
Before deciding which section to use, make sure you understand how Section 75 works, and the impact this might have when you stop using CWPF as your pension scheme.
What do I need to know?
How to enrol someone new
You can enrol new staff through Employer Hub
Who can I enrol?
Anyone can join if they are:
- over 16, and,
- in approved Church employment.
If you are unsure whether someone meets this, get in touch with us and we can check whether they can join.
You can backdate someone’s membership if you want or need to.
Automatic enrolment means you need to enrol certain members of staff. Check who you need to enrol at the Pensions Regulators' website.
What does it cost?
Contributions must be at least 8%. You can split the contribution between staff and the employer, but we expect the employer to pay at least 4% of this.
All our schemes come with life cover of at least 2x salary. Here is how much it costs:
- 2x salary costs 0.5%
- 3x salary costs 0.75%
- 4x salary costs 1%
So that life cover is a tax-free benefit in kind, the cost must be covered by the employer.
Changing salary or hours
If someone's salary or hours change, their pension contributions will change too.
You can let us know through Employer Hub
You can backdate changes if you need to and we will collect or refund any differences.
Salary sacrifice
Salary sacrifice is a tax-efficient way for people to contribute into their pension.
Instead of pension contributions being taken from a member's income before tax, the employer pays all the pension contributions in exchange for salary being reduced, usually resulting in the person paying less tax. There is an NI saving for members and employers too.
If you would like to use salary sacrifice, just let us know the salary to use for pension contributions. You can let us know through Employer Hub
What if someone leaves?
You can tell us when people leave through Employer Hub
If the person was part of our scheme for less than 2 years, they can transfer their pension to another pension provider. If they don’t want to do this, we will offer them a refund of their contributions, if any, less tax.
We will also refund your contributions, but we keep the amount we collected for life cover.
If your contact details change, please remember to tell us.
This is especially important for contribution contacts as the monthly statements we send have personal information.
Update contact detailsLeaving CWPF, or closing your organisation down (Section 75 debts)
If you decide to stop using CWPF as your pension scheme, or your organisation is closing down, this could trigger a Section 75 debt.
Examples when this could happen include:
- You no longer have any employees who are enrolled in CWPF, and you do not intend to enrol new employees into CWPF
- You wish to use a different pension scheme
- Your organisation is closing down / winding up
It is vital you understand the implications this could have. You might need to pay a final exit debt, commonly called a Section 75 debt.
There are mechanisms in place to help you. We are here to help if you do trigger a Section 75 debt.
Pension Schemes Act 2021
The Pension Schemes Act 2021 introduced new powers for The Pensions Regulator (TPR) from 1 October 2021, bringing with it new risks for not-for-profit directors (and trustees).
The new regulatory penalties are potentially high, with an increased threat of TPR imposing a requirement for an employer to contribute more to a pension scheme, and the ultimate threat of severe civil or criminal penalties. This note provides more detail.
All not-for-profits with defined benefit pension schemes, including those with schemes in surplus, should be taking action to manage these new regulatory risks. In particular, all not-for-profits should:
- get all individuals with responsibility for pensions trained on the new powers and requirements; and
- update internal governance processes so that events which could lead to regulatory intervention are identified early and the risks mitigated.
Contact us
We are here to help. You can contact us by:
Phone: 020 7898 1802 (9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday)
Email: [email protected]