Easing your pension tension: What responsibilities do employees have?

Wednesday, November 26, 2003

Employees, in discussion with their employer, decide which pension plan they want to join. In most cases, employees join a business and the pension plan is already in place. However, employees, by majority vote, can decide to change which plan the company uses but this decision should be made in conjunction with the employer.

Once the plan is in place, a small amount of money is taken out of your pay and combined with the employer’s pension payment. Those funds are then paid to the administrator and invested for retirement.

However, employees must understand there is more to it than money being deducted. Here are a few tasks the employee has when participating in a pension plan:

Make sure the money taken out of your pay is put into your pension plan. Simply by keeping your payroll slips and check them against your pension statements, you will know that the amount taken out by your employer is paid into your pension plan.

If you discover money is being taken out but not being paid into your pension plan or that your employer’s portion is not being paid, you should immediately talk to your employer and the pension plan administrator.

If either party does not fix the problem, you should notify the Office of Superintendent of Pensions who will investigate the complaint.

Tell your administrator of any changes in personal information. An address change, new PO box, new phone number, marriage or divorce is information your administrator needs to keep on file. Since you are likely to change jobs over time, it’s important you have a different mailing address from your employer to ensure you receive your pension statements, regardless of where you’re working.

Attend your pension plan’s annual general meeting and other talks. These meetings give you the chance to talk about your concerns and learn more about the plan’s activities.

As employees, you have responsibilities to complete in order to make the pensions process successful. By keeping track of your payroll slips, reviewing your pension plan statements, and keeping your plan administrator updated on all of your information, you’ll be well on your way to “Easing Your Pension Tension”.

Next in the series: Employer’s Responsibilities.

Back...