BT "Mobile Worker Payments" (Salary
Sacrifice Scheme)
20 March 2007
BT has relaunched the "Mobile Worker
Payments" (MWP) salary sacrifice scheme. As a result the Union
received numerous requests for clarification of the issues.
The advice and analysis given on 18 October
2005 remains largely valid: The big change is that participation in
the scheme is now on an opt-in basis rather than opt-out.
Some non-mobile grades, such as Planners,
have been approached to participate. The HMRC rules relating to this
scheme have not changed - individual employees could only claim MWP
payments if they fulfil various criteria, and on the individual days
when they are away from the office and travelling between a number
of different sites.
Although the MWP has no impact on BT
pensions, it will have a small, detrimental impact on the Second
State Pension (S2P) for members who are in the BT Retirement Plan (BTRP).
This is because the amount individuals are paid in S2P is dependent
on the amount of National Insurance they pay in. The benefits of MWP
are that people who participate pay less tax and National Insurance.
Members of the BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) (final salary) are
contracted out of S2P and so are not affected.
People in the BTRP should be aware of this,
particularly as they may have opted for other Salary Sacrifice
Schemes such as Smart Pensions and Home Computing. This was one of
the main reasons the union argued that these schemes should be
opt-in rather than opt-out. The company has argued that the pension
detriment is outweighed by the cash-in-hand benefit of MWP, but it
is also important that members have all the facts and can make an
informed judgement.
BT has produced an explanatory booklet to
accompany the scheme, but it is not being widely distributed. It is
available on the BT Intranet:
http://humanresources.intra.bt.com/41793/printpage.htm?id=41793&sec=0063 |
