Paying back missing pension contributions during maternity leave - but reducing £s - legal or discrimination?

[MaternalBullfrog]

I pay into my workplace pension and my employer has a very good matching level. Say I put in 6% salary, they double it and put in 12% of my salary, which has been in place for years and years.

I recently returned from maternity leave and due to covid they're reducing the matching for ALL employees now so that (in my case) I put in 6% salary, they'll put in 6% salary.

I took 12 months of maternity leave, the last 3 completely unpaid, and they're offering me the chance to make up my "missing" pension contributions for March, April and May... but they're saying they'll only match the historical contributions to the new "lower" amount.

in other words, if I'd worked March, April and May they'd have put in 12% of my salary, but because I'm paying them voluntarily in July, August and September... they'll only put in 6%.

I thought women going and returning from maternity can't be penalised for it in terms of remuneration or benefits packages.

Are they allowed to stiff me on the missing employer contributions? ACAS is closed for now but I'll be checking in with them as I'm a bit disgruntled at how I've been treated during materntiy leave (no communication, forgetting to pay me KIT days, restructuring my job) and this is the final straw.

I can't figure out if I'm being unreasonable in my response due to the general crap handling at work, or if this is something I should genuinely push back on.

What are they doing for other employees? Are they allowing them the opportunity to make up for past contributions and if they are what rate are they making employer contributions? If there is a history of allowing backdated contributions then it’s different to them making a special case for you.

Normally it would be matching at the highest rate. 12%.
But I bet I'm the 1st return from mat leave after they're lowering the match level.

they have already broken the law. ALL benefits except the salary you take home are supposed to continue throughout maternity leave. they should have been paying in the normal amount for the whole of your leave including those 3 months - no deductions can be made from SMP so their contributions should also have been making up what would normally be deducted from your salary.

You could write to the pensions ombudsman

www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/

Pension contributions dont have to be paid during the last 3 months of your maternity leave - when you are on nil pay. I dont think what they are doing is discrimination as they dont have to let you make up those contributions at all, bad luck with the timing but not discrimination although I am not an expert.

@YinuCeatleAyru - I'm afraid you are wrong on every count. The OP's employers have not broken the law.

Under the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 and the Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2014 the employer does not have to pay any pension contributions during periods of unpaid maternity leave. During paid maternity leave they have to pay employer's contributions as if the employee was still receiving full pay but employee's contributions based on the pay they were actually receiving. They do not have to make up the shortfall in the employee's contributions. And, contrary to your post, pension contributions can be deducted from SMP.

@MaternalBullfrog - Given that the employer doesn't have to make any contributions at all for the period you weren't receiving maternity pay, nor do they have to allow you to make up the missing contributions, I doubt a discrimination claim would succeed. As the regulations stand, they are being generous by matching your voluntary contributions.

Small update:

I asked HR to put the company answer in writing so that I could "check with ACAS" and now a manager has been in touch to say they'll match at the highest rate.

I'm glad I didn't just accept the first answer, I've no idea (for future readers) what the legal stance is because I hadn't had time to actually check with ACAS before HR wrote back to say they were reversing the policy.

I think it's a case of not thinking things through and now that I've checked they're realising it's either illegal or bad PR maybe... Whatever the reason, I have it in writing that my employer will be treating me the same as if I'd been at work.

I'm surprised they wrote that down so... No malicious intension, just disorganized or badly thought out?

Forgot to say thank you for all the input too!! Thanks!!