People's Pension eligibility follows auto-enrolment: workers from 22 to State Pension age earning over £10,000 are enrolled; others aged 16 to 74 can ask.

Whether you can be in The People's Pension turns mostly on your age, your pay and whether your employer has chosen it, so the answer differs from one worker to the next. Anyone wanting their own age and earnings tested against these rules can fill in the form here, after which an FCA-authorised adviser telephones, and nothing is charged.

Who is put into The People's Pension automatically

The People's Pension is a workplace scheme that employers sign up to, so the first question is whether you are one of the staff your employer must enrol. There are four conditions: you are classed as a worker, you ordinarily work in the UK, you are aged between 22 and State Pension age, and your pay is above the earnings trigger. Meet all four and the employer enrols you without being asked, into whichever qualifying scheme it picked. The scheme's own member page, archived 18 April 2026, puts it as an employee "aged between 22 and the State Pension age, earning over £10,000 a year".

The pay test is set by section 3 of the Pensions Act 2008: the duty to enrol applies to a jobholder "to whom earnings of more than £10,000 are payable" in the pay reference period, scaled up or down for a period other than a year. The Pensions Regulator's (TPR's) detailed guidance for employers uses the same test, "above the earnings trigger", and puts pay "equal to or below the earnings trigger" in the group that must ask rather than be enrolled. So pay of exactly £10,000 a year is not enough. TPR gives the trigger for 2026 to 2027 as "£10,000 annually" and, in its assessment table, over £833 a month. Because the test runs pay period by pay period, someone whose pay swings above and below that monthly figure could raise it with an adviser through the form, at no charge.

Being eligible does not mean being enrolled the same day. GOV.UK says an employer can delay the enrolment date by up to 3 months, and must tell you of the delay in writing and allow you to join during the wait if you ask. GOV.UK also says the employer usually need not enrol someone who has already given or received notice to leave, or who is in a limited liability partnership. For directors, the scheme's own page says an employer has the option to enrol an eligible one but does not have to; directors have their own page.

People's Pension age limit: who can ask to join instead

Workers aged 16 to 74 can ask to join even when they would not be enrolled automatically. The scheme's employer pages say "all employees aged 16-74 have the right to opt in or join a pension scheme", and TPR's assessment guidance says that "An employer needs to identify which of its workers are aged between 16 and 74", the range being the age test for both categories of worker below. On joining, GOV.UK says you can usually still join if you want to, and adds: "Your employer cannot refuse."

What happens when you ask depends on which of TPR's three categories you fall into. Using its detailed guidance and its pay bands for 2026 to 2027:

CategoryAgePay a month, before deductionsWhat the employer must do
Eligible jobholder22 up to State Pension ageOver £833Enrol automatically and pay in
Non-eligible jobholder16 to 21, or State Pension age to 74Over £833Enrol you and pay in if you ask (opting in)
Non-eligible jobholder16 to 74Over £520, up to £833Enrol you and pay in if you ask (opting in)
Entitled worker16 to 74£520 or lessProvide a scheme if you ask; paying in is optional

For an opt-in, TPR says the employer must put the worker into a scheme usable for automatic enrolment and "pay regular contributions". For an entitled worker it must provide a scheme but need not contribute. The People’s Pension tells employers the same, adding that they can choose to pay for an entitled worker anyway. GOV.UK draws the same line for people who joined voluntarily: minimum employer contributions are owed above "£520 a month", and none at or below it. The general version of this grid, for any employer's scheme, is in workplace pension rules.

The notice must be in writing, which can be "a letter or an email", and must be signed by the employee; the scheme says it does not take opt-in notices itself but directs people back to their employer. The practical steps are on how to join or opt back in. Someone over State Pension age and keen to keep paying in can also read auto-enrolment after State Pension age, and younger workers what applies to the youngest staff.

Is The People's Pension for the self-employed?

Not through a product of its own, on the scheme's own account. Its guide for the self-employed, archived on 17 May 2026, says: "We don’t currently offer a pension product specifically for self-employed individuals." It adds that anyone with a workplace pension from a previous job with the scheme "can pay personal contributions into your existing account", and that a self-employed person "will not be automatically enrolled in a workplace pension scheme under auto-enrolment". The guide points instead to setting up your own defined contribution pension; who can join Nest, pensions for the self-employed and what a SIPP is cover those routes.

Running a limited company that employs others is a different case. The guide says you "can set up a workplace pension scheme that you and your employees can join", and names it: "This is known as a small self-administered scheme (SSAS)." A SSAS is a different kind of arrangement, covered in SSAS pensions for a limited company. Which of these fits your business and any old pots you hold depends on facts this page cannot see; handing over your number through this page's form is one way to get an adviser's view, and the first conversation costs nothing. Auto-enrolment for the self-employed has the general position.

How employers use the scheme, and where your employer fits

You do not usually pick The People's Pension yourself; your employer does. The scheme's guide for new employers tells them to work out who must go into a scheme, sign up online, tell staff about it and make a declaration of compliance to TPR. Employers must also tell people who do not need to be enrolled, "as they’ll still have the option to join if they want to".

The scheme also says that once someone has been enrolled as eligible, their status "doesn’t change, even if they reach State Pension age, or their earnings drop". Leaving a job is a separate question: see your workplace pension after you change jobs. What you would pay once in is under workplace pension minimum contributions and, for charges, The People's Pension fees and charges. Money in the scheme is invested, so its value moves with markets, down as well as up, and a member could end up with less than went in.

Questions people ask about People's Pension eligibility

Can I join The People's Pension if I earn less than £10,000?

You can ask to join if you are aged 16 to 74. At or below the earnings trigger you are either a non-eligible jobholder or an entitled worker, as in the table above, and whether the employer must pay in depends on which. Part-time and irregular-hours workers are covered in zero hours and part-time workers.

What are qualifying earnings?

Qualifying earnings are the band of pay that contributions are normally calculated on. For most automatic enrolment schemes GOV.UK puts that band at "£6,240 and £50,270" of annual pre-tax earnings. Some employers use a different basis, so your payslip or employer is the check.

Can I join if my employer uses a different pension?

The rights to opt in or join are rights against your employer: TPR says an opt-in puts you into a scheme the employer can use for automatic enrolment, and for joining the employer provides the scheme, so it is the employer's choice of scheme, not yours. How that scheme compares with any People's Pension pot you already hold is a question an adviser can go through with you on a free call-back.

I am over State Pension age: can I still join?

Workers aged up to 74 have the right to ask, as above, and the employer's duties then depend on pay. The detail is on auto-enrolment after State Pension age.

If I opt out, will I be put back in?

The scheme says that every 3 years your employer "must re-enrol all eligible staff who’ve opted out of the pension scheme". How opting out works is set out in opting out of a workplace pension.

Your next step

Eligibility comes down to three facts: your age, your pay and which scheme your employer uses. Put those facts to an FCA-authorised adviser by completing the enquiry form on this page; the telephone conversation that follows is free. You can also ask your employer or payroll team which category they have you in, and our guide on the pros and cons of a workplace pension adds the bigger picture.

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