CII/PFS membership fees

Who typically pays your membership fees - you or your employer?

Comments

  • amarshallamarshall Member, Moderator

    Employer

  • Employer - but I had to argue the toss.

  • If it's necessary for the job the employer should pay. You've an even stronger case if they put you through exams, but most of them are happy to cover the fees anyway

  • My employer doesn't believe it is necessary for the job. I tried to argue for it in my last review but lost!

  • Sorry to hear that Kate however at least you'll be able to claim tax relief, please see the HMRC website.

    I believe you're able to claim for up to 5 tax years.

  • richallumrichallum Administrator

    We (company) pay here.

    Paraplanner. F1, Apple, Nutella, ice cream. No trite motivational quotes. Turning a bit northern. 

  • NathNath Member
    edited January 2020

    Yep, employer pays for me.

    As an addition, what else does your employer pay for/provide in the way of benefits? It would be interesting to see what the standard is.

    Mine pays for the following:

    • CII Membership
    • Mobile phone (as I always used to work on emails outside of hours just to help really)
    • All exams, as well as training courses if applicable to the role (2 fails allowed so 3rd entry you would have to pay for....never got to that thankfully)
    • Pays all 8% of AE allowance
    • Discretionary Bonus every 6 months
    • Group Cash Plan, Group DIS and Group IPI
  • can I get a job at your place @Nath ?

  • I think there's a queue @Jona!

  • NathNath Member
    edited January 2020

    Lol, it now sounds like a brag based on those replies @Jona and @Andy_Schleider

    However, it wasn't meant to be at all. It was purely to see what others are offered in their roles to get a gauge on how generous or otherwise it was. The phone one is a bit unique but when I was employed by the adviser 7 years ago, it was a big leap of faith as well as risk for us both and the business has grown from just the 2 of us to now a 3 adviser firm with 2 additional support staff with plans to continue to grow.

    The bonus has always been there (it's annual but now paid 6 monthly and is now based on a number of factors for support staff so everyone's can differ), however, AE allowance probably around 12 months this has been in place as well as the Group benefits. The group benefits were mainly a play to retain the staff we already had as they are great and to try and ensure we wouldn't look elsewhere, but also to attract decent staff when we grow.

    I take it from those replies that the benefits package for me is pretty good then which is great to hear. The phone one is purely for me though and not the other support staff so perhaps I shouldn't of added that one as its not group wide.

    I suppose people have to look at the whole deal though as I have seen some roles offer good benefits but a much lower salary as a trade off (although I don't think that is the case with me, but to be fair I would consider my role as paraplanner/manager as I manage the other support staff, as well as get involved in all management meetings and making decisions for the business as a whole).

  • Employer pays here. I wouldn't be happy if they didn't.

  • My previous employer definitely didn't want to pay for anyones membership fees (larger firm) and now I've moved to a smaller firm, it was one of the first things they insisted on.

  • @Steven_McBurnie said:
    Sorry to hear that Kate however at least you'll be able to claim tax relief, please see the HMRC website.

    I believe you're able to claim for up to 5 tax years.

    Thanks @Steven_McBurnie I'll look into that. @Nath add me to that queue please!!

  • It's interesting to see that some firms pay for this and some don't! I've only recently joined a new company (3 months ago) and didn't think to raise it any earlier. @Nath - your employer sound wonderful! I really like the idea of a company improving the staff benefits over time. I'm working for a relatively small/new firm so hope to see similar developments as we begin to take on more people in the future.

  • It could be a big firm/small firm thing as the larger firm I worked for previously most certainly wouldn't offer this. I can imagine with hundreds/thousands of staff that could get costly!! Same reason why the smaller firm I work for now didn't go with Group PMI and went with cash plan. One claim on PMI would smash the costs and make it unaffordable.

  • I'm not yet in a position to take on any staff, but costs of various things would certainly be a consideration before I started offering employee benefits. I'm not even paying my own pension contributions from the company yet in an effort to maximise profits (so that I look good on paper for a prospective lender). Once I've moved and have the new mortgage that may change. I guess to begin with I would probably not be offering too much and maybe a chat with the accountant may be in order!

  • I pay - make sure if you do, you claim it with HMRC

  • As an employer, I happily pay for the CII membership subject to the employee committing to the agreed study schedule and CPD requirements. It's a win-win situation - everyone benefits.

    I previously worked for an employer who didn't want to pay, so I understand your position. Now that such decisions are down to me, I make sure I do things differently.

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