NHS MAT leave and pension. HELP!

[Hatchie]

Hey all,

if anyone is able to share their experience or advice I would appreciate it so much as NHS HR, payroll and pensions team are being horrendous. I’m gonna datix it hahah.

My questions relate to the bottom of band 8a (plus outer London weighting)

1. does anyone know or is anyone happy to share what their MAT leave breakdown was spread across a year for band 8a?
2. I currently pay £600 a month into my pension 💀 I’m thinking of opting out for the year because that is such a significant amount of money to keep paying each month. Has anyone done this? From what I understand I would have to continue to pay £600 a month despite being on MAT leave and earning considerably less each month.
3. if opt out of the pensions scheme for a year do I have to pay anything back when I opt back in again.
4. has anyone got advice on if it’s better to average it out for a year or not? I’ve asked for this but then heard mixed reviews on HR making mistakes and being paid wrong.

Thank you so much xxx

I don’t know the ins and outs of nhs pensions but unless I’d face losing my home a lot of other things would go before my pension contributions especially as your is defined benefit (not something ill ever enjoy)

Don't opt out, that's really the worst thing you could do. It means your employer's contributions stop as well as your own.

I would imagine that your % pension contribution remains the same. So you'd only continue to pay £600 per month if your maternity pay over the month was the same as your current monthly pay.

Don't stop your pension contributions! it's a % of your pay so if your pay is reduced so will your contribution. The last thing you should do is stop contributions as you lose employer contributions too.