UK Pension and Salary Sacrifice Survey Report 2025

In March 2025, we conducted a survey to see whether employers were looking at changing their pension arrangements

2 June 2025 | Author: Tomm Adams

UK Pension and Salary Sacrifice Survey Report 2025 – The findings

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget confirmed a range of measures that directly impact employers and are expected to raise £24 billion each year for the next five tax years.

From April 2025, the rate of Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) has gone up from 13.8% to 15%. At the same time, the Secondary Threshold (above which employers start paying this contribution) has reduced from £9,100 to £5,000 per employee per year. This means additional cost on employers.

In March 2025, we conducted a survey to see whether employers were looking at changing their pension arrangements to mitigate the impact of the increase in costs and whether they are looking to change their approach to sharing any savings.

Key findings from the report?

Salary Sacrifice Adoption

Results show salary sacrifice is widely adopted with 77% of organisations currently using this arrangement with variation across different industry sectors.

Employer NIC savings

A clear trend emerging with 63% of employers choosing to retain NIC savings rather than pass them onto employees’ pension contributions

Employer NIC Increase

67% of organisations remain undecided on pension top-up strategy suggesting ongoing deliberation about the best response to cost increases

Communicating Pension Changes

56% of responses across all company sizes “haven’t decided” how to communicate any pension policy changes responses, emphasising the need for clear, engaging communication strategies

Some employers may find themselves struggling with increasing costs and looking for ways to reduce them, without damaging their Employee Value Proposition. The survey shows that there are still savings to be had. Done in the right way, salary sacrifice could be a win-win for employers and employees alike.

Tomm Adams

Partner

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How can Blick Rothenberg help?

Blick Rothenberg can support you through the early stages from reviewing and implementing a pension plan through to providing employer-related tax compliance advice on benefits policies and salary sacrifice arrangements.

If you would like to receive the survey results, please complete the form below.

If you would like to discuss how the increase in Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) affects you, please get in touch with your usual Blick Rothenberg contact or Tomm Adams.

Please note that, as at May 2025, salary sacrifice remains an effective way to deliver pension contributions tax and NIC efficiently. It is always possible that current or future governments could change the system – we can help you stay up to date with legislative changes.