Deloitte launches “flexible pensions” policy for UK staff

Deloitte has launched a “flexible pensions” policy for its UK staff, allowing people to temporarily pause their employer’s pensions contributions and instead receive that money on top of their salaries.

The global accounting firm said it wanted to give its staff more choice over how and when they accessed their money. It cited employees who were putting together a home deposit as one example of people who may wish to pause pension contributions.

Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” accountancy firms, is headquartered in the UK and employs around 22,000 people here. 

“Saving for retirement remains incredibly important, however we know from listening to our people that some would value flexibility and choice around their pension contributions,” Jackie Henry, managing partner for people and purpose at Deloitte UK, said in a statement.

“There may be individuals who, in the short term, want to have the flexibility to receive the firm’s pension contribution as part of their regular pay, for instance, to help supplement savings for buying a first home. We know that our people are a diverse group of individuals – with many different priorities – and we hope today’s measures give them more choices to support their needs.”

The new pensions policy has been informed by a Deloitte survey of 4,000 UK private sector employees in April. The survey found that staff value temporary flexibility and choice around pension contributions, with the option to access that money for other financial priorities.

Deloitte is encouraging staff to seek independent financial advice before making any changes to their pensions. The firm is also providing some information and support in-house, such as pension modelling tools and a Q&A on its intranet, plus an event for staff this week to talk them through the policy and signpost them to useful resources. It will undertake an annual re-enrolment of the pension. 

The firm also announced changes to a number of other staff policies this week. Deloitte will now offer two weeks’ paid bereavement leave, up from two days previously. The company will also offer private medical insurance that includes specific menopause support from next year. In addition, staff are now entitled to 26 weeks of maternity or adoption leave on full pay, up from 16 weeks on full pay followed by 10 weeks on half pay previously.

These new measures were based on feedback from surveys of Deloitte’s employees. The company also introduced flexible public holidays at the start of this year.

“We have undergone a comprehensive review of all of our people policies. We want to give our people the best support at these important times in their lives,” Henry said.

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