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Auto Enrolment Explained
Automatic Enrolment is a UK Government initiative to help more people save for later life through a pension scheme at work.
Automatic Enrolment is one type of Workplace Pension. A Workplace Pension is any pension scheme that is set up by an employer to provide their employees with retirement benefits.
The key facts
- Automatic Enrolment makes it compulsory for employers to offer eligible workers a workplace pension
- The employer must automatically enrol every eligible worker into the scheme
- The employer must make a minimum contribution to the scheme
- The employee will receive tax relief on your contributions - but they are free to leave the scheme at any time
- The earlier an employer starts saving into a pension, the better it is
- Employer contributions and tax relief make pensions an attractive option for saving for retirement
Find answers to frequently asked questions below.
To be eligible for Automatic Enrolment, the employer must be:
- At least 22 years old;
- Not yet at State Pension age;
- Earning a salary of at least £10,000 p.a. (under current rules);
- Normally working in the UK under a contract of employment
The employee will receive tax relief on their contributions. If they are not eligible, they can still ask to be put into a pension scheme and their employer may pay into it.
Non-eligible jobholders, who are not already active members of a workplace pension scheme that meets certain minimum standards, do not have to be automatically enrolled in the employer’s workplace pension scheme, but do have the right to ask to join the scheme. They may also receive employer contributions.
Non-eligible jobholders are workers who either:
- Are aged either between 16 and 21, or aged between State Pension Age and 74;
- Earn over the earnings threshold, currently, £10,000 per year; and
- Work, or ordinarily work in the UK and have a contract of employment (i.e. so is an employee and not a self-employed contractor) or who have a contract to provide work and/ or services personally (so can’t sub-contract to a third party).
Or
- Are aged between 16 and 74;
- Earn between the lower earnings amount of, currently, £5,824 per year and the earnings threshold of, currently, £10,000 per year; and
- Work, or ordinarily work in the UK and have a contract of employment (i.e. so is an employee and not a self-employed contractor) or who have a contract to provide work and/ or services personally (so can’t sub-contract to a third party).
The rules about joining, leaving and how an employee invests their money are similar to other types of defined contribution schemes.
Automatic Enrolment puts an employee into the scheme, but it’s up to the employee if they wish to leave the pension scheme. This is referred to as opting out.
There are time limits for opting out and getting a return of contributions.
It is possible to opt out at any other time but an employee’s contributions, and those of the employer, will remain in the pension scheme.
If the employee decides to opt out, it’s important to remember that the employer will be required to put the employee back into the scheme every three years. The employer would only re-enrol the employee if they still meet the Automatic Enrolment criteria
If you would like more information about Auto Enrolment, or general pensions, the Pensions Advisory Service offers a huge amount of easy to understand information. Their website can be found at www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/
Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of this document, no responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or body corporate acting or refraining from acting as a result of any statement in it can be accepted by ASA Recruitment.
ASA Recruitment will not be liable for any loss, direct or consequential suffered by anyone acting or omitting to act as a result of this material.