Pensions — Auto-enrolment


The entitlement to a workplace pension depends on the terms and conditions of the employment contract. However, there have also been important recent changes in pensions law.


The phasing in of auto-enrolment, which began in 2012, is now almost complete. Under this new regime, all employers are under a duty to auto-enrol eligible job-holders who are not already participating in a workplace pension into a qualifying scheme such as the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). The duty has been implemented in stages, beginning in October 2012 with workplaces of 120,000 or more. By 2016, the auto-enrolment obligation was being applied to employers with fewer than 30 workers. These employers are now being contacted in batches, depending on their PAYE reference number. 


In summary, under the new law, every employer must automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension scheme if they:


• are aged at least 22 but under state pension age;


• earn at least £10,000 a year; 


• work, or ordinarily work, in the UK.


Some existing pension schemes may already meet the minimum qualifying requirements of an auto-enrolment scheme. 


Since 1 July 2012, it has been against the law for any employer to:


• induce workers to opt out of a qualifying pension scheme;


• ask workers during the recruitment process if they plan to opt out; or 


• treat workers detrimentally if they seek to enforce their pension rights. 


There is more information about auto-enrolment on the website of the Pensions Advisory Service (www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/automatic-enrolment).