Employer pension contributions during sick leave usually carry on while you are being paid, and the law protects pension rights through paid paternity, adoption and shared parental leave.

Whether your employer keeps paying into your pension while you are away comes down to one question: are you being paid, and if so by what? Whether your scheme works out the employer share on sick pay or on normal salary is written in your own paperwork, and an FCA-authorised adviser will unpick that wording with you by phone for nothing; your best number and the form on this page book that call. Below, sick pay and unpaid time off each get a section, and paternity, adoption and shared parental leave share one.

Does sick pay count towards employer pension contributions?

Yes, it counts towards the legal minimum, though on its own it adds very little. The Pensions Act 2008 lists the sums that count as earnings for workplace pension purposes, and statutory sick pay is one of them: “(b) statutory sick pay under Part 11 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (c. 4);” The same list takes in statutory paternity, adoption and shared parental pay. GOV.UK gives the band of earnings that contributions are normally worked out on as £6,240 to £50,270 a year before tax, and sick pay is on its list of what counts.

For a defined contribution scheme, the Pensions Regulator says the employer’s minimum is “at least 3% of the jobholder’s qualifying earnings in the relevant pay reference period.” Its guidance measures that period by what is payable, which covers what was paid and what was due to be paid in it. Only the part of pay above the lower end of the band counts, scaled to the pay period, and GOV.UK puts statutory sick pay at £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. On statutory sick pay alone, then, the legal minimum comes to a few pence a week or nothing.

That is the floor. Your employer’s chosen scheme decides what counts as earnings, and its rules or a binding agreement with the employer set the contribution in practice, so the pension section of your contract matters as much as the law.

What happens to contributions on contractual sick pay?

Some employers pay more than statutory sick pay. GOV.UK says an employer “can offer more if you have a company sick pay scheme but you cannot offer less”, and that company schemes, also called contractual or occupational sick pay, must be in the employment contract. Statutory sick pay itself is paid for up to 28 weeks.

For paid leave in general, GOV.UK says “you and your employer carry on making pension contributions.” Yours follow what you are actually paid; your employer’s follow the salary you would have been on if you were at work. Whether that pattern holds on contractual sick pay is set by your contract and scheme rules. A payslip showing the employer line each month is the quickest check.

What if sick pay stops or the leave is unpaid?

Once statutory sick pay has run its 28 weeks and nothing replaces it, no pay is payable. The legal minimum is a percentage of earnings payable in a pay period, so it has nothing to apply to unless your contract or scheme rules promise otherwise. The same reasoning covers unpaid leave agreed with your employer.

GOV.UK says that on unpaid leave “you may be able to make contributions if you want to”, and tells you to check with your employer or the scheme provider. Pausing or reducing contributions looks at the choices from the other direction.

The State Pension is a separate matter. GOV.UK says Class 1 National Insurance credits can be applied for if Statutory Sick Pay leaves a year short of a qualifying one, and come automatically with Employment and Support Allowance; the State Pension guide covers how years add up. Whether a scheme keeps paying in during an unpaid month turns on your contract, so ask an FCA-authorised adviser through the call-back form here; it costs nothing.

Paternity, adoption and shared parental leave: what the law protects

In England, Wales and Scotland, Schedule 5 to the Social Security Act 1989 has three paragraphs for family leave: 5A for paid paternity leave, 5B for paid adoption leave and 5C for paid shared parental leave. Each targets a scheme provision on continuing membership or building up rights that departs from “the normal employment requirement”, which for paternity leave the Act defines as treating the period “as if it were a period throughout which the member in question works normally and receives the remuneration likely to be paid for doing so.”

There is a condition: the protection is for a “paid” period, meaning one for which the employer pays “any contractual remuneration or statutory paternity pay”, with matching wording for adoption and shared parental pay. During such a period, a member “shall only be required to pay contributions on the amount of contractual remuneration or statutory paternity pay actually paid”. In plain terms, your own contribution follows your actual pay, but your pension rights are not meant to shrink because you took the leave.

GOV.UK gives paternity leave as 1 or 2 weeks, adoption leave as up to 52 weeks, and shared parental leave as up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 of pay shared between two parents.

Maternity leave has its own rules, now in the Equality Act 2010 after Schedule 5’s maternity paragraph was repealed in 2010; see pension contributions on maternity leave and salary sacrifice during maternity leave. For adoption or shared parental weeks without pay, scheme rules differ, so put your own scheme to an FCA-authorised adviser via the call-back form here.

Defined benefit schemes treat absence differently

In a final salary or career average scheme the benefit is built from service and pay, so the question is less about a contribution and more about whether the time counts. The Local Government Pension Scheme is one example, and it is not a rule for other schemes. Its guidance says that if sickness reduces or stops your pay, “a notional pay figure is used to work out your pension to make sure you do not lose out”, and that on unpaid sick leave “you will not pay any contributions.” Other public and private schemes have their own wording, so check the member guide for the scheme you belong to. The final salary pension guide explains the basics.

Common questions on pension contributions while off work

Can my employer stop paying into my pension while I am off sick?

Statutory sick pay counts towards the legal minimum, but on that pay alone the minimum is a few pence a week at most. GOV.UK expects contributions to continue during paid leave, and your contract and scheme rules decide the amount, including once pay stops altogether.

Do I still pay into my pension on statutory sick pay?

Yes, if you are in a scheme that takes contributions from pay: GOV.UK says your share is based on your actual pay while away. Your take-home pay will be lower, so the deduction is usually smaller.

Is statutory paternity pay pensionable?

It counts as earnings under the Pensions Act 2008, and while the leave is paid, Schedule 5 expects your pension to build up as if you were working on your usual pay. For the legal minimums, see how minimum workplace contributions are set.

Can I make up contributions I missed during unpaid leave?

You may be able to pay in during the leave, according to GOV.UK, so ask your employer or provider. Rules for making up a gap afterwards depend on the scheme.

Checking what your employer is paying in

Compare the pension lines on your payslip with the scheme statement, and read the sick pay and leave sections of your contract alongside. How contributions are calculated shows which kinds of pay count, and what to do if employer contributions are missing covers a shortfall. For the minimums themselves, the auto-enrolment guide is the place to start. Sick pay terms, scheme rules and payslip all feed the answer, so the quick call-back form here could settle it with an FCA-authorised adviser.

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