UK workplace pension auto enrolment is here. If you’re a UK business owner and have employees you may already be legally required to provide automatically enrolled pensions to your employees. The easiest way to learn what your legal obligations are is to fill in the form at the top of the page and speak with an Approved Index representative.
Automatic enrolment began for large businesses in the UK starting in October 2012 and will extend to all businesses by no later than 2018. The start date for your business depends on the number of employees and when the business began trading.
Below are the current staging dates set out by the new Conservative government in 2015. (Source)
Employer size (by PAYE scheme size) or other description | Automatic Enrolment duty date | |
From | To | |
250 or more members | 1 October 2012 | 1 February 2014 |
50 to 249 members | 1 April 2014 | 1 April 2015 |
Test tranche for less than 30 members | 1 June 2015 | 30 June 2015 |
30 to 49 members | 1 August 2015 | 1 October 2015 |
Less than 30 members | 1 January 2016 | 1 April 2017 |
If you’re unsure about your start date, fill in the form above to speak to an Approved Index representative.
All employees (both part and full time) between the ages of 22 and the state pension age must be enrolled if they earn over £10,000 per year and work in the UK.
Workers who earn less than £10,000 a year and those under 22 or over the state pension age may also opt-in to the system if they earn over £5,824 per year.
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Auto enrolment is an opt-out rather than opt-in system. Therefore employees have to explicitly state that they do not want to take part or they will be enrolled. When employees join the scheme they will be given a letter by the chosen pension provider explaining everything.
At this point employees can request an opt-out form, which they have to submit within 1 month or they will be deemed to be enrolled. If an employee does opt-out, they will be auto enrolled again in 3 years time where they will have to repeat the process if they wish to stay opted-out.
Employees who opt-out will miss out on employer matching contributions and government tax relief.
Employers are expressly forbidden from encouraging employees to opt-out.
The amount it will cost you and your employees is as follows:
Employer Cost:
1% of ‘qualifying earnings’ rising to 3% by 2018 for each employee.
Employee Cost:
0.8% of ‘qualifying earnings’ rising to 4% by 2018 from their monthly pay.
Government Cost:
0.2% of ‘qualifying earnings’ rising to 1% by 2018.
Employees have the option to pay in more than their minimum and employers are free to offer more generous terms if they so choose.
Just fill in the form at the top of the page to find an auto enrolment company for you today.
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