What Happens to Your Pension When You Change Jobs

Changing jobs is one of the most common reasons people end up with multiple pensions scattered across different providers. Here’s what actually happens to your old workplace pension, and the decisions worth making deliberately rather than by default - including keeping enough of a running total to gauge whether you’re on track for your age rather than letting old pots pile up unnoticed.

Your old pension doesn’t disappear

A workplace pension you built up with a previous employer stays exactly where it is, remains invested, and continues to belong to you - it doesn’t get forfeited, cancelled, or automatically transferred just because you’ve left. It becomes what’s known as a ‘deferred’ pension: no further contributions go in from that employer, but the pot keeps growing (or shrinking) with investment performance.

Your options, and what to check for each

• Leave it where it is. Simplest option, and often the right one - especially if the scheme has low charges or valuable guarantees. The main downside is having more pots to keep track of over time.
• Transfer it to your new employer’s scheme, if the new scheme allows incoming transfers. This can simplify things, but check the new scheme’s charges and fund range are genuinely comparable first.
• Transfer it to a personal SIPP. Gives you full control and consolidation with any other old pensions, but again, check for guarantees or exit charges before transferring (see our dedicated consolidation article for the full checklist).

What definitely doesn’t carry over automatically

Employer contributions stop the moment you leave, obviously - but it’s easy to forget that your own contribution rate also resets with a new employer, and you need to actively set it up again (or confirm the new employer’s default rate) rather than assuming continuity from your old job.

At your new job: check auto-enrolment timing

New employers can delay auto-enrolling you for up to three months from your start date, though you can ask to opt in earlier if you want to start contributing (and receiving employer contributions) straight away rather than waiting out the full deferral period.

If you were in a defined benefit (final salary) scheme

This deserves particular care. A defined benefit pension you leave becomes a ‘deferred’ benefit, typically revalued each year until you draw it, and it keeps its own valuable guarantees - a promised income for life, calculated by your salary and years of service rather than investment performance. Transferring a defined benefit pension to a defined contribution pot is a major, often irreversible decision, and UK regulation requires regulated financial advice before transferring for pensions above a certain value. Think very carefully, and take advice, before doing anything with one of these.

A simple checklist when you change jobs

• Confirm your new employer’s pension scheme, contribution rate, and any employer match - and set your own contribution rate deliberately rather than accepting a low default.
• Note down your old pension’s provider and policy number before you lose access to old payslips or your old employer’s HR portal.
• Decide (don’t just default) whether to leave, transfer, or consolidate the old pension, checking for any guarantees first.
• If it’s a defined benefit pension, don’t rush any decision - seek regulated advice if you’re considering a transfer.

The bottom line

Your old pension is safe and stays yours, but it needs a deliberate decision about what to do with it rather than being forgotten. The single biggest thing to get right is treating a defined benefit pension with far more caution than a standard defined contribution pot.