Automatic Enrolment duties explained

As employers are now required to comply with Automatic Enrolment legal duties it’s important to know exactly what is expected of you and your business and when.

Under the Pensions Act 2008, all UK employers must put certain staff into a workplace pension and contribute to it themselves too. The system is called Automatic Enrolment.

Crucially, businesses employing for the first time from 1st October 2017 need to comply with auto-enrolment as soon as they recruit a member of staff. Previously, employers have had more time to prepare for their auto-enrolment duties and staging date, in some cases years.

Automatic Enrolment began in October 2012. All existing companies were expected to have their staff enrolled by April 2017. Any new employers now have six weeks to ensure they comply with their automatic enrolment duties.

Workers who are aged over 22, under the state pension age, and earn more than £10,000 per year or £833 per month or £192 per week must be enrolled in a workplace pension, if they are not already part of a qualifying workplace pension scheme.

To help you know what your responsibilties are as an employer, TPR has a Duties Checker available on its website.

Are you worried about auto-enrolment? Have a question about pension schemes in general? Call today on 01628 617100 or use our online enquiry form.

Date published 22 Aug 2017 | Last updated 14 Oct 2020