You can usually raise your workplace pension contributions through payroll. The cost to your take-home pay depends on how your scheme gives tax relief.

If you want to increase contributions to your workplace pension, the answer to "can I?" is usually yes. The harder questions are what your employer will do in return, what the extra costs you after tax, and where the limits sit. To have the sums run on your own pay, lodge a free enquiry: the form on this page sends it to an FCA-authorised adviser.

How to raise what you pay in

An auto-enrolment contribution is a percentage of your earnings, taken through payroll. GOV.UK's guidance on what you and your employer pay says both of you must pay a percentage of earnings, and that the legal minimum is only a floor, because the amounts can be higher under a particular scheme's rules. The minimum itself, and which slice of pay it is worked out on, are in the workplace pension minimum guide; who is enrolled in the first place is in the workplace pension rules guide.

Paying more is a matter of asking whoever runs the scheme. MoneyHelper's guide to voluntary contributions (archived copy of 5 September 2025) says that with a defined contribution pension you can usually change how much extra you pay in by contacting your employer, if they set up the scheme, or the provider, if you set up the pension yourself. How the change is made is the employer's or provider's process, not a rule of law, so the scheme booklet, the HR team or the provider will say what applies to you.

The same guide warns that extra money should be money you can afford to keep "locked away until you’re at least 55 (57 from April 2028)". A reader who is also weighing a personal pension can look at the SIPP guide.

Will your employer pay more if you do?

Sometimes, but not because the law says so. The legal minimum is the employer's floor, and anything above it is the employer's choice. The arrangement people usually mean is contribution matching. MoneyHelper's guide to it (archived copy of 5 December 2025) puts it simply: "if you pay more into your pension, so will your employer", up to a maximum the employer decides. Its example is an employer that matches up to 10%, who would typically pay in 5% if you pay in 5%, 8% if you pay in 8%, and 10% if you pay in 10%. In that example you could pay in more than 10% but the employer would still pay in 10%. The guide adds that some employers pay in more than the employee does.

It is equally clear about the other side: your employer "doesn’t need to offer contribution matching". So whether your employer pays more when you do has no general answer. Matching is a feature of particular employers and schemes, with terms that differ between them, and this page does not offer a typical or "good" rate. Ways to find out for yours:

  • the pension section of the staff handbook or intranet, which may set out any contribution tiers;
  • the scheme's member booklet or the provider's website;
  • a direct question to HR or payroll. MoneyHelper suggests asking "what their highest rate of contribution matching is, and what you need to do to get it", for example whether you must pay in 10% yourself to receive an employer's 10%.

What extra contributions do to your take-home pay

Joining a workplace pension reduces take-home pay, as GOV.UK points out, and raising your rate does the same again. How much depends on which of two ways your scheme gives income tax relief, and the payslip shows different things under each. GOV.UK's advice is to "Check with your employer or pension provider which arrangement your workplace pension uses."

Net payRelief at source
When the contribution comes outBefore tax is worked out on your payAfter tax and National Insurance
What the payslip showsYour contribution plus the tax reliefOnly your own contribution
Basic-rate reliefBuilt into the deductionAdded by the provider
Higher-rate reliefAutomaticClaimed from HMRC
Someone who pays no income taxNo reliefProvider still adds relief

Source: GOV.UK, Workplace pensions: managing your pension and what you, your employer and the government pay, accessed 20 October 2026; HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM044230.

Under net pay, the whole contribution is deducted from your pay before tax, and HMRC's manual says full relief is received up front. Someone earning below the tax threshold gets no relief this way; HMRC's low earner's pension payment exists for that case, and the pension tax relief guide explains it along with Scottish rates.

Under relief at source, you pay in with basic-rate tax already taken off and the provider recovers that tax from HMRC and adds it to the pot. HMRC's example is a basic-rate taxpayer who wants £100 a month in the pension and "would only pay a net amount of £80 a month, where the basic rate of tax is 20%". A higher-rate taxpayer can claim a further £20 on a £100 contribution (40% less 20%) through Self Assessment or their tax office.

Putting the two together gives a working example of our own, calculated on 20 October 2026 from the 20% and 40% rates GOV.UK gives for England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the 2026-27 tax year, assuming the whole £100 falls within the one band. It is not HMRC's figure.

Extra £100 a month into the pensionNet pay: take-home falls byRelief at source: take-home falls by
Basic-rate taxpayer£80£80
Higher-rate taxpayer£60£80, then £60 after claiming the extra £20

Working: under net pay, £100 less 20% tax of £20 is £80, and £100 less 40% tax of £40 is £60. Under relief at source the member pays £100 less £20, which is £80, and a higher-rate taxpayer's claim of (40% less 20%) of £100 is £20, so £80 less £20 is £60. Over twelve months, £80 a month is £960 and £60 a month is £720. The same £100 reaches the pot each month in every case; only the cost to you differs. This covers income tax only. GOV.UK adds that a smaller pay packet can bring entitlement to an income-related benefit, or a larger award, and can lower student loan repayments.

Pay, tax band and other pensions all move these numbers, so an FCA-authorised adviser contacted through the form on this page might be worth a free conversation.

Some employers take the employee's share by salary sacrifice instead, swapping some salary for an equal employer payment into the scheme; GOV.UK's tip is simply to ask HR whether that happens where you work. The saving, and what a lower salary can affect, are in the salary sacrifice guide, and the limits on the amount are in how much can be sacrificed. The National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Act 2026 is law: from the 2029-30 tax year it lets regulations bring sacrificed pension contributions above a yearly limit into National Insurance, and the first regulations must set that limit at £2,000; a search of legislation.gov.uk on 20 October 2026 turned up no regulations made under it yet. The minimum guide sets out the Act in full.

Extra contributions in a defined benefit scheme

If your workplace pension is a defined benefit scheme, such as a final salary or career-average pension, the route is different and depends entirely on the scheme. MoneyHelper's AVC guide says to "check if your scheme allows additional voluntary contributions". The AVC may be a defined benefit arrangement, where the money buys extra guaranteed benefits, or a defined contribution one, where a separate invested pot builds up that can rise and fall in value until you take it. The Local Government Pension Scheme shows one version: its member site says AVCs build "a pot of money which is used to provide benefits on top of your LGPS benefits", and the employer can contribute at its discretion. Other public sector and employer schemes have their own terms, so ask the scheme administrator before assuming the same applies. The difference between AVCs and salary sacrifice is in salary sacrifice versus AVCs, and the AVC pros and cons guide weighs them up.

Paying more into a workplace pension: questions people ask

Can I top up my auto-enrolment pension?

Usually, yes: MoneyHelper describes voluntary contributions as paying in more than the scheme's minimum. Whether the scheme calls it a higher rate, a top-up or an AVC varies, so ask the employer or provider. Investments can fall as well as rise, so you may get back less than you paid in.

How much extra can I pay in?

The scheme's own rules set the practical limit; the LGPS, for example, lets members pay up to 100% of pensionable pay into an in-house AVC. The tax limit is the annual allowance, which GOV.UK puts at "£60,000 this tax year" (2026-27), and it counts your employer's payments into a defined contribution scheme as well as yours; going over can bring a tax charge. It can be lower on a high income (see the taper guide) or after flexibly taking a pension (the money purchase annual allowance), and unused allowance from the previous three tax years may be carried over, as the annual allowance guide explains.

Is the contribution taken gross or net?

Net pay schemes take it from gross pay; relief at source schemes take it from pay after tax, as the table above sets out. Your payslip and the provider can tell you which.

Your next step

Whether to raise your contributions turns on your pay, your tax band, what your employer adds, and what else you hold in pensions and savings. Your employer or provider can confirm what your own scheme allows; GOV.UK points to MoneyHelper and Pension Wise for free guidance. To weigh a higher rate against your wider finances, jot your pay and pensions into the form on this page, which arranges a free call-back with an FCA-authorised adviser.

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