Bureau of Wealth

Workplace Pension Contribution Calculator

By the Bureau of Wealth team Updated

This calculator is general information, not financial advice. Check your own figures with the provider or a qualified adviser before acting on them.

Enter your salary and contribution rates to see how much goes into your workplace pension each month, what it really costs you after tax relief, and any employer money you are missing.

Using 2026/27 rates rates checked 14 September 2026

Contributions are worked out on

Qualifying earnings are pay between £6,240 and £50,270. Your scheme booklet or payslip will say which applies.

Leave at 0 if your employer pays a fixed rate.

Check the highlighted fields to see your results.

What this calculator assumes

  • Qualifying earnings are your yearly earnings between £6,240 and £50,270, the 2026/27 band most automatic enrolment schemes use. Full salary means contributions are worked out on everything you earn. Enter your total earnings, including regular bonuses and overtime, if your scheme counts them.
  • Tax relief uses the 2026/27 income tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or for Scotland. With relief at source, the cost to you assumes you claim any relief above 20% through Self Assessment or HMRC. With net pay, relief is the income tax your contribution saves, so it is nothing if you earn less than the Personal Allowance.
  • National Insurance and salary sacrifice are not included. Salary sacrifice can lower the cost further, because less of your pay is taxed.
  • If your employer matches, it pays the same rate as you up to its limit, and never less than its fixed rate.
  • The figures are for one year at your current salary. They do not include investment growth, charges or pay rises.
  • The annual allowance is shown only as a warning above £60,000. A lower allowance can apply to high earners and to people who have already taken money flexibly from a pension.

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How your contributions are worked out

The calculator first finds your pensionable pay. On the qualifying earnings basis, that is your salary between £6,240 and £50,270. On the full salary basis, it is all of your salary. Your contribution and your employer's are percentages of that figure.

It then works out what your contribution costs you. With relief at source, you pay 80% of your contribution from take-home pay and your pension provider claims the other 20% from the government. With net pay, your employer takes the contribution before income tax, so you pay less tax instead. In both cases the calculator compares your income tax with and without the contribution to find the real cost.

A worked example

You earn £35,000 in England, your scheme uses qualifying earnings, and you pay 5% with your employer paying 3%. Your pensionable pay is £28,760. You put in £1,438 a year and your employer adds £862.80, so £2,300.80 goes into your pension, or £191.73 a month. As a basic rate taxpayer, that £1,438 costs you £1,150.40 after tax relief, which is £95.87 a month.

If the same scheme used your full salary, £2,800 would go in each year, £233.33 a month, for a cost to you of £116.67 a month. The basis your scheme uses can make a noticeable difference, so check your scheme booklet or payslip.

The automatic enrolment minimum and the £10,000 trigger

Your employer must enrol you automatically if you are aged between 22 and State Pension age, usually work in the UK and earn at least £10,000 a year. The legal minimum is 8% of qualifying earnings in total, and at least 3% of that must come from your employer. GOV.UK shows this as 3% from your employer and 5% from you. In some schemes your employer pays more, and you can pay less as long as the total still reaches 8%.

The calculator checks the minimum only on the qualifying earnings basis. If you earn under £10,000, you can usually still ask to join. Your employer must contribute if you earn more than £520 a month, £120 a week or £480 over 4 weeks.

Relief at source or net pay

For most taxpayers the two methods cost the same. The difference shows up at both ends of the pay scale. If you earn less than the Personal Allowance, relief at source still adds 20% to your pension, while net pay gives no relief because there is no income tax to save. On a £12,000 full salary, a 5% contribution of £600 a year costs £480 with relief at source and the full £600 with net pay.

Higher rate taxpayers get their full relief automatically through net pay. With relief at source, only 20% is added, and you claim the rest yourself. On a £60,000 full salary, a 5% contribution of £3,000 costs you £1,800 once the extra relief is claimed. If you do not claim it, you pay more than you need to.

Getting all of your employer's contribution

Some employers match what you pay up to a set percentage. Say your employer pays at least 3% and matches you up to 6%. On £35,000 at qualifying earnings, paying 5% brings £1,438 a year from your employer. Paying 6% would get you £287.60 a year more from them, and the whole extra 1% costs you £230.08 a year after relief. Your scheme's rules say whether your employer matches and up to what rate.

To see what these contributions could grow to by the time you retire, try the pension calculator. If you are weighing up extra pension saving against an ISA, the ISA vs pension calculator compares the two.

Frequently asked questions

What are qualifying earnings?

For 2026/27 they are your earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax, including bonuses, commission, overtime and statutory pay such as sick or maternity pay. Most automatic enrolment schemes work out contributions on this band, but your scheme's rules decide what counts.

What is the minimum my employer has to pay?

Under automatic enrolment, your employer must pay at least 3% of your qualifying earnings, and the total going in must be at least 8%. Your employer or your scheme can choose to pay more than this.

Why does my payslip show a different amount?

With relief at source, your payslip shows 80% of your contribution because the provider adds the other 20% later. Pay periods, bonuses and a scheme that uses basic pay or full salary can also change the figure.

How do I know whether my scheme uses relief at source or net pay?

Ask your employer or pension provider, or check your scheme documents. Your employer must tell you how tax relief applies to you when you are automatically enrolled.

Can I leave my workplace pension?

Yes, you can opt out through your pension provider, but your employer's contributions stop too. If you opt out within a month of being enrolled you get back what you paid in; after that, it usually stays in your pension until you retire. Your employer cannot encourage or force you to leave, and will usually re-enrol you automatically every 3 years.

Sources

Figures come from institutions millions of people rely on. How we keep calculators accurate.