Automatic Enrolment

Section 3 of the Pensions Act 2008 imposes the core employer duty: for a jobholder aged at least 22, under State Pension age, and earning above the statutory threshold, the employer must make prescribed arrangements by which the jobholder becomes an active member of an automatic enrolment scheme with effect from the automatic enrolment date. GOV.UK guidance confirms the practical trigger points for employers: an employer must automatically enrol a worker and make contributions if the worker is classed as a 'worker', is aged between 22 and State Pension age, earns at least £10,000 per year, and ordinarily works in the UK.

Both employer and worker must then contribute a minimum percentage of qualifying earnings — since April 2019 the employer minimum has been 3%, the worker minimum 5%, making a combined total minimum contribution of 8%. Section 5 of the Pensions Act 2008 imposes a parallel duty of automatic re-enrolment, under which employers must periodically re-enrol eligible staff who have previously opted out or ceased membership, subject to the same age and earnings conditions as the original enrolment duty. Workers who do not wish to remain in the scheme retain the right to opt out.