The pay slip clearly states that pension has been deducted, but you can log in to your account and see that the balance has not changed at all; or you may find that your employer did not pay taxes for you (PAYE/National Insurance) at all. For Chinese working in the UK with a visa, many people's first reaction when encountering this kind of thing is to "put it up and forget it, for fear that losing their job will affect their visa."
Quite the opposite. 's employer should have paid or not, but you are the one who is hurt - the pension gap has to be made up in later years, and the tax records are incomplete. When applying for permanent residence (ILR), renewal or even naturalization in the future, you may be asked to explain "whether your income in the past few years is legal or not." Today I will explain how to check and pursue.
Step one: Confirm that the employer really "missed" pension contributions
The UK implements workplace pension automatic enrollment (auto-enrolment) . As long as you are over 22 years old and your annual salary reaches the threshold, your employer has a legal obligation to help you pay. But don’t get mad as soon as you see there is no money in your account – it may take 90 days for the money to arrive.
Rules: The Pensions Regulator (TPR, Pensions Regulatory Authority) recommends waiting 90 days. If the account has not been credited for more than 90 days, the trustee/provider of the pension plan is obliged to proactively report it to your employer, and you will also be notified at that time.
The method is very simple: check the amount deducted from the salary stub and log in to the pension provider account to see the actual payment record. If the two sides do not match up, it is a signal.
Step 2: Pension not paid, report to TPR
After confirming the missed payment, you can report it directly to TPR, submit online or call 0345 600 0707. Need to prepare:
• Employer’s name and address
• Employer’s PAYE number (can be found on pay slips, P60, P45, P11D)
• Your estimated amount of the shortfall and when it occurred
The TPR will check accordingly and may order the employer to make up your pension and impose a fine of . This is an administrative supervision method. You do not need to go to court yourself, and it is relatively friendly to migrant workers who are still employed.
Step 3: Taxes/NI not paid, check records + report to HMRC
Every time the employer pays wages, he must submit a FPS (Full Payment Submission) to HMRC, reporting who was paid, how much was paid, how much tax and National Insurance were deducted. If your payslip shows "tax deducted" but the money doesn't go to HMRC, the problem lies with your employer.
Self-examination tool: Log in to Personal Tax Account (gov.uk/personal-tax-account) to check whether there are any gaps in the National Insurance record and whether the tax payment history matches the salary stub. If any abnormality is found, report it in writing through HMRC’s National Insurance inquiry channel, and keep your monthly salary slips as evidence.
Key mentality: "Deducted" on the salary slip does not mean "paid". The evidence is in your hands - payslip, bank account records, contracts, all are kept in the record. This is the trump card for recovering and clarifying visa records in the future.
Why this matters for your UK permanent residence
This is especially important for work permit holders such as Skilled Worker: the employer's long-term non-compliance with tax payments may endanger its sponsor license - once the sponsor license is revoked, your visa will be directly implicated. When applying for ILR permanent residence, a clean and consistent tax record can help you successfully prove that you "work legally and pay taxes legally." Although pension is not directly included in the conditions for permanent residence, it is a delayed cash-out of your hard work over the years. Don’t give it away in vain.
Worried about being retaliated against or losing your job after reporting? British law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for legitimate rights protection. If you really encounter injustice, you can go further to Acas mediation or employment tribunal. For complex situations, it is recommended to contact our licensed lawyers on WeChat for evaluation first, rather than shouldering the burden alone.
[Data source] thepensionsregulator.gov.uk (report missed pension payments); gov.uk/personal-tax-account; gov.uk PAYE & NI Employers Guide 2026/27. This article is for reference only. Please consult a licensed attorney for specific questions.
💬 Let’s chat: Have you checked your pension and NI records? Have you found that the salary slip has been "deducted" but no money has been added to the account? Tell us about your experience or questions in the comment area, and we will help you figure out the next step.
If you find it useful, please forward it to your friends who are also working in the UK and are applying for permanent residence - don't let the money you should get and the records you should have slip away quietly. ⏳