Parental Leave and Pension/Bonus

Hi,

I am currently taking a period of parental leave, effectively I am taking 1 day per week off, and working a 4 day week. My salary as such is reduced by the equivelent of 8 hrs per week.

I contribute 5% of my salary to my pension, and my employer pays 5% into my pension also.

In addition to this, I am ona gauranteed bonus of 5%, half of it paid in mid year, the remainder end of year.

So my query is, because I am on parental leave, my employer pension conntributions have decreased, in addition to my bonus. Is this correct, are they supposed to reduce these payments, as I understood the only impact of my parental leave would be my take home salary?

Thanks,
Wexfordman

This is what I found in the parental leave act regarding pension - should answer your query

Your Rights While on Leave
Your rights remain in tact apart from your pay, pension or any benefits rights for that period. Some employers may agree to maintain some or all of these rights – like the pension contribution – but they are not legally obliged to do so.

Your service will not be broken for the purpose of other rights like sick leave, annual leave and maternity leave.

At the end of our Parental Leave, you will be entitled to return to the same job as before, under the same contract, terms and conditions. If this is not practicable, suitable alternative employment must be found, but the conditions of this employment cannot be less favourable than those previously held.

Basically, the pension contributions are a percentage of what they pay you. If you are not being paid becasue you are on parental leave, there is no pension contribution. This is applicable to parental leave as well as other forms of unpaid leave.

THanks Guys,
Makes sense I suppose, just had'nt calculated it in my figures, but I'll get over it.
Regards,
Wexfordman