What is auto-enrolment and who has to be enrolled?

Workplace pension rules explained: auto-enrolment is the law that makes employers put eligible staff into a pension. Here is who must be enrolled and who can ask.

If a pension deduction has appeared on your payslip that you never signed up for, that is probably auto-enrolment. Whether you have to be enrolled depends on your age, your pay and how you are employed, and it is your employer who must check and do the enrolling. What to do around it, such as paying in more or bringing older pots together, is a different question, and one an FCA-authorised adviser can take up with you; mention it in the form on this page. The rest of this guide is the general position.

What auto-enrolment is

In GOV.UK’s words, a workplace pension is "a way of saving for your retirement that’s arranged by your employer", where "A percentage of your pay is put into the pension scheme automatically every payday." Some are called "‘occupational’, ‘works’, ‘company’ or ‘work-based’ pensions". The wider map of pension types is in how the UK pension system works.

Auto-enrolment is the rule that gets eligible people into one. GOV.UK: "All employers must provide a workplace pension scheme. This is called ‘automatic enrolment’." Section 3 of the Pensions Act 2008 says the employer "must make prescribed arrangements by which the jobholder becomes an active member of an automatic enrolment scheme with effect from the automatic enrolment date." So the duty is the employer’s, the worker does not have to apply first, and the worker then has a right to leave (see opting out below). Section 1 adds that where a jobholder has more than one employer, "this Chapter applies separately in relation to each employment."

"Workplace pension" is the everyday name for a pension arranged through an employer; "auto-enrolment" is how an eligible worker gets into it. GOV.UK also separates people who were "automatically enrolled" from those who "joined one voluntarily (‘opted in’)", and what the employer must pay can differ. Whether a workplace pension counts as a private pension is answered in is a workplace pension private, and how the start dates were staged from 2012 in when workplace pensions became compulsory.

Who has to be enrolled

GOV.UK says an employer must automatically enrol you and pay contributions if all of these apply:

• "you’re classed as a ‘worker’"
• "you’re aged between 22 and State Pension age"
• "you earn at least £10,000 per year"
• "you usually (‘ordinarily’) work in the UK (read the detailed guidance if you’re not sure)"

The Act’s word for the worker is "jobholder": someone working in Great Britain, aged at least 16 and under 75, to whom qualifying earnings are payable. Section 3 applies the enrolment duty to one "who is aged at least 22", "who has not reached pensionable age", and who is paid more than £10,000 in the pay period (the Act and the Regulator say "more than" where GOV.UK says "at least"), scaled proportionately for a longer or shorter pay period. Your own State Pension age is covered in the State Pension guide.

The three groups, by age and pay

The Pensions Regulator sorts staff by gross monthly earnings and age:

Source: The Pensions Regulator, Check who to enrol in a workplace pension, accessed 18 October 2026.

• Must be enrolled. The employer "must put these members of staff into a pension scheme that can be used for automatic enrolment and pay regular contributions. The employer doesn't need to ask their permission."
• Right to opt in. Section 7 says the jobholder "may by notice require the employer to arrange for the jobholder to become an active member of an automatic enrolment scheme", and the employer must then pay regular contributions.
• Right to join. "If they ask, the employer must provide a pension scheme for them, but the employer doesn’t have to pay contributions into a pension scheme." GOV.UK puts the same line at "£520 a month", "£120 a week" or "£480 over 4 weeks".

GOV.UK adds: "You can usually still join their pension if you want to. Your employer cannot refuse."

Who is not automatically enrolled

GOV.UK says an employer "usually does not have to automatically enrol you" if you do not meet those criteria or if one of a list of cases applies. The list includes:

• "you’ve already given notice to your employer that you’re leaving your job, or they’ve given you notice"
• "you’ve already taken a pension that meets the automatic enrolment rules and your employer arranged it"
• "you’re in a limited liability partnership"
• "you’re classed as a ‘director’ without an employment contract and employ at least one other person in your company"

The full list has more cases. On notice, the Regulator says the employer "has a choice whether to enrol them or not", and also has a choice over enrolling a director who meets the age and earnings tests. For people working for themselves, GOV.UK says self-employed people and sole directors of limited companies can use Nest as a workplace pension scheme; the Nest guide covers how it works. Directors, partners and people with irregular hours are the cases where a general table gives only part of the answer, and the employer or scheme is the first place to ask.

The earnings trigger and the qualifying earnings band

Two sets of numbers get confused. The earnings trigger decides whether a worker of the right age is enrolled at all. The qualifying earnings band is the slice of pay that contributions are usually worked out on. The Department for Work and Pensions reviews them each year, and the Regulator says changes "take effect from the start of the next tax year following the changes on 6 April". For 2026 to 2027 the Regulator’s thresholds page gives:

Source: The Pensions Regulator, Earnings thresholds, accessed 18 October 2026, which also gives fortnightly, four-weekly, quarterly and half-yearly figures. Because the numbers are reviewed, check that page for the year you care about.

Section 13 of the Act defines the band in law: the part of gross earnings that is more than the lower figure and not more than the upper figure, scaled proportionately for a pay period of less or more than 12 months. Earnings include "salary, wages, commission, bonuses and overtime" and statutory sick, maternity, paternity, adoption and similar pay. Pay is judged over the pay period, so a bonus can change the answer: the Regulator says if one "pushes the member of staff’s earnings over the automatic enrolment threshold amount in that specific pay period, they would need to be enrolled in that same week or month."

Whether a given job meets these tests is for the employer to assess. Someone with two part-time jobs, each with its own pension, or with older pots from past jobs, may want help deciding what to pay in and where; completing the form on this page brings a call from an FCA-authorised adviser who can set them side by side.

What goes in once you are enrolled

GOV.UK says you and your employer are both required to pay in a percentage of your earnings. Since April 2019 its table has set the floor at 8% of qualifying earnings: at least 3% paid by the employer, 5% by you. The percentages usually apply to a band of earnings rather than to all pay, and the amounts can be higher under your scheme's rules, particularly in defined benefit schemes; the workplace pension minimum explains both. Two more points belong here:

• Lower take-home pay. Joining reduces your take-home income, which may bring an income-related benefit or a larger one; is a pension a benefit covers means-tested benefits.
• Tax relief. The government will usually add it if you pay Income Tax; pension tax relief explains the methods. GOV.UK also says you and your employer may use salary sacrifice, where "you give up part of your salary and your employer pays this straight into your pension."

Anyone who chose to opt in, rather than being enrolled, has a different test: GOV.UK says the employer must pay the minimum if they earn more than £520 a month, £120 a week or £480 over four weeks.

An automatic enrolment scheme must provide a default fund, because it may not require a choice to join: the Regulator says "An automatic enrolment scheme will therefore have to provide a default fund for all jobholders who do not express an opinion or choice." For a single charge structure, the default arrangement may not charge more than 0.75% a year of the member's pot. Occupational schemes meet that cap through SI 2015/879, regulation 6; for a group personal pension or other personal pension scheme used by an employer the FCA's COBS 19.6.6R applies. That is one cap on one fund, not a promise the whole pension costs 0.75% or less; pension charges and fees sets out what it covers. The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than was paid in.

Delays, opting out and re-enrolment

GOV.UK says "Your employer can delay the date they must enrol you into a pension scheme by up to 3 months", and longer in some cases for a defined benefit or hybrid scheme. The employer must "tell you about the delay in writing" and "let you join in the meantime if you ask to". Once you are enrolled, your employer "must write to you" with the date they added you, the type of scheme and who runs it, what you and they will pay, how to leave and how tax relief applies. If the first sign was a payslip deduction, ask for that letter.

Enrolment is compulsory for the employer, not for you. Under section 8 of the Act, if the jobholder gives notice, "the jobholder is to be treated for all purposes as not having become an active member of the scheme on that occasion". GOV.UK explains the practical position:

• "If you opt out within a month of your employer adding you to the scheme, you’ll get back any money you’ve already paid in."
• "You may not be able to get your payments refunded if you opt out later - they’ll usually stay in your pension until you retire."
• An employer cannot "unfairly dismiss or discriminate against you for being in a workplace pension scheme", or "encourage or force you to opt out".

Opting out trades pay now against a pot later, and its meaning depends on other pensions, the State Pension and tax. Someone weighing it up can send the form on this page and be introduced to an FCA-authorised adviser who looks at the whole position before anything is decided.

GOV.UK says you can opt back in at any time by writing to your employer, though "They do not have to accept you back into their workplace scheme if you’ve opted in and then opted out in the past 12 months." Separately, your employer will re-enrol you "every 3 years (from the date you first enrolled), or they can choose to do it sooner", unless you no longer qualify; if you left "in the 12 months before the date you would have been re-enrolled", they do not have to, though they can. If you changed jobs, the workplace pension is still yours; having more than one pension and reading a pension statement help with keeping track.

Which schemes an employer can use

The Pensions Regulator’s guidance for employers (no. 4, part of a version it dates June 2021) says "A qualifying scheme is a scheme that meets certain minimum requirements with some additional conditions (the ‘qualifying criteria’)", and "An automatic enrolment scheme is a qualifying scheme with some additional features (the ‘automatic enrolment criteria’) which means the employer can use it for automatic enrolment." An employer "might use an existing pension scheme or set up a new occupational or personal pension scheme", but a scheme administered mainly outside the UK cannot be used. The Act also says the enrolment duty does not apply if the jobholder "was an active member of a qualifying scheme on the automatic enrolment date", which is why someone already in a suitable scheme may not be enrolled again.

In a defined contribution scheme what you get depends on what is paid in and how it is invested (what a defined contribution pension is). Final salary pensions and collective defined contribution cover the other designs. For a defined benefit pension, GOV.UK says "You’re usually protected by the Pension Protection Fund if your employer goes bust and cannot pay your pension". How a workplace pension compares with other types is in stakeholder or workplace pension and the State Pension against private pensions.

Where the rules apply

Section 1 of the Pensions Act 2008, the jobholder definition, is marked on legislation.gov.uk as extending to England, Wales and Scotland, and defines a jobholder as a worker "who is working or ordinarily works in Great Britain under the worker's contract". GOV.UK’s guide describes the test as usually working in the UK. For Northern Ireland, nidirect, Enrolling into a pension at work gives the same tests: aged 22 or over, under State Pension age, earning more than £10,000 a year and working in the UK, adding that "The earnings figure £10,000 is valid during the 2026-2027 tax year." Scottish taxpayers: see pension tax relief for relief on contributions. Public-sector schemes such as the NHS, teachers’ and police schemes have their own rules and are not covered here.

The rules may widen. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 lets the government, by regulations, lower the age of 22 and reduce or remove the lower earnings limit, but section 1 "comes into force on such day or days as the Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument appoint", and legislation.gov.uk still marked it as prospective on 18 October 2026. Until then the age of 22 and the £6,240 lower limit above apply.

Workplace pension rules: questions people ask

Is a workplace pension compulsory for employees?

Enrolment is compulsory for the employer, not for you. GOV.UK says that if you opt out within a month of being added "you’ll get back any money you’ve already paid in", and a later opt-out may not bring a refund.

Do all UK employers have to provide a workplace pension?

GOV.UK says "All employers must provide a workplace pension scheme." The Regulator notes that an employer who is a sole director, for example, will not have automatic enrolment duties, so if you are unsure, ask your employer.

Do part-time workers get auto-enrolled?

The tests GOV.UK lists are worker status, age, annual earnings and where you work; hours are not among them. A part-timer earning at least £10,000 a year who meets the others is within the duty, and a lower earner may still have a right to opt in or join (see the table).

What is a non-eligible jobholder?

The Regulator’s glossary defines it as a jobholder who "is aged between 16 and 21 or state pension age and 74" with qualifying earnings above the earnings trigger, or who "is aged between 16 and 74" with qualifying earnings at or below it. They can opt in and get employer contributions. Someone who "does not have qualifying earnings" (£520 a month or less) is an "entitled worker", with a right to join but no employer contribution.

How often will I be auto-enrolled?

Your employer must re-enrol you "every 3 years (from the date you first enrolled), or they can choose to do it sooner", and will write to you. You are not re-enrolled if you no longer qualify, and need not be if you opted out in the 12 months before.

Can my employer make me wait?

For a limited time. GOV.UK says up to 3 months, longer in some defined benefit or hybrid cases, with written notice and a right to join in the meantime if you ask.

What is a qualifying workplace pension scheme?

The Regulator describes one meeting minimum requirements plus extra conditions it calls the qualifying criteria. A scheme used for auto-enrolment must meet further criteria on top.

Your next step

Auto-enrolment sets a floor, and what it means for you depends on your pay, your other pensions and your plans. For the terms of your own scheme, GOV.UK says to "talk to your pension provider or your employer", and to "Contact The Pensions Regulator" if you are worried about how your employer is handling enrolment; MoneyHelper gives free, impartial information. To talk through what to pay in and how it sits with your other pensions, put your question into the form on this page, addressed to an FCA-authorised adviser firm. The enquiry is free, though GOV.UK notes that you will usually have to pay a financial adviser for their advice.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Workplace pensions guide (joining; what you, your employer and the government pay; changing jobs; leaving a scheme; protection; get help), accessed 18 October 2026
• nidirect, Enrolling into a pension at work, accessed 18 October 2026
• The Pensions Regulator, Earnings thresholds; Detailed guidance no. 4, accessed 18 October 2026
• legislation.gov.uk, Pensions Act 2008 sections 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 13; Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 sections 1 and 2; SI 2015/879 regulation 6, accessed 18 October 2026