Date posted: 01/09/2006
Audience:
- Finance Directors
- HR or Finance Managers with specific responsibility for telling payroll providers each year about changes to the salary bands on which ASLC charges are based
Action: You must notify your payroll provider now of the revised ASLC salary bands which take effect from 1 April 2007.
Timing: Immediate
ASLCs
- ASLCs are the contributions paid by employers to Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation every month. The contributions represent the cost of the pensions building up for staff who are members of the Civil Service pension arrangements.
- The table overleaf shows the annual full time salary band used to determine the appropriate charge for each scheme member. The revised salary bands take effect from 1 April 2007. It is a regulatory requirement that the full and correct ASLC, together with the member’s contribution, is paid by the 19th calendar day of the month following the payroll date for every scheme member.
| | Revised Salary Band (£) |
Rate of Charge From 1 April 2007 (same as 2006-07) (%)
|
|---|
| Band 1 |
19,000 and under |
17.1 |
| Band 2 |
19,001 to 39,000 |
19.5 |
| Band 3 |
39,001 to 66,500 |
23.2 |
| Band 4 |
66,501 and over |
25.5 |
| |
Prison Officers with reserved rights (pre-
Fresh Start)
|
26.5
|
Note 1: The salary bands for 2007-08 have been revalorised on the advice of the Scheme Actuary, Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow.
Note 2: The mini-ASLC for the provision of risk benefits to those opting for partnership pension account arrangements remains at 0.8%.
Deciding what salary band and rate of charge is applicable
- We are taking this opportunity to remind employers of the guidance issued by HM Treasury in DAO (GEN) 8/97 and in section 3.5 of the Employers’ Pension Guide.
- Assignment to salary bands is on the basis of the individual's full time permanent pensionable earnings received each month, multiplied by 12. In the case of weekly paid staff, assignment is on the basis of weekly pay multiplied by 52.2. The amount payable is calculated by applying the rate for the band to total pensionable earnings received in the period, including arrears, one-off lump sums and other irregular pensionable emoluments.
- For part time staff assignment to the salary band is on the basis of the full time equivalent rate of pay but the resulting percentage is then applied to actual pensionable earnings received. For example a member who works part time on half the normal conditioned hours and earns £12,000 a year has permanent pensionable earnings of £24,000 (full time equivalent). The ASLC rate payable is 19.5% (band 2) and is applied to the £12,000.
Calculating the ASLC due on retrospective pay awards and late payment of salary
- Where retrospective pay straddles more than one financial year, the salary bands and ASLC rates applicable to those years should be applied. Advice on calculating the arrears of ASLCs is in EPN144.
Employers’ Pension Guide
- Updated pages of Section 3.5 of the EPG will be issued in April 2007 to include the revised salary bands.
Reference
EPN 77, 80, 94,102, 119, 128
Contacts:
Enquiries about content, distribution or to receive in a different format
employerhelpdesk@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
01256 846414
Employer Helpdesk
Civil Service Pensions
Grosvenor House
Basing View
Basingstoke
RG21 4HG
