Check who to enrol in a workplace pension
Your client must carry out a formal assessment to ensure eligible staff are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme.
The assessment can either be done manually or automatically using business software and will need to be carried out each time the workforce changes.
See 'check records and payroll processes' are in place to enable your client to run automatic enrolment effectively.
Assessing the workforce
If your client has business software (eg for payroll, HR and pensions administration), this could be set up to automatically assess and monitor staff ages, earnings and pension contributions paid into a pension scheme by a member of staff and/or your client. If they don’t, the table below shows how to assess staff based on their ages and how much they earn.
Staff will fall into one of the following categories:
| Gross earnings | Age 16 to 21 | 22 to SPA* | Age SPA* to 74 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over £833 a month (Over £192 a week) | Has a right to opt in1 | Must be enrolled2 | Has a right to opt in |
| Over £520 up to £833 (Over £120 up to £192 a week) | Has a right to opt in | Has a right to opt in | Has a right to opt in |
| £520 and below (£120 and below a week) |
Has right to join a pension scheme3 | Has a right to join a pension scheme | Has a right to join a pension scheme |
Footnotes
* State Pension Age. If you are unsure what this is use the State Pension Calculator to find out.
1 Has a right to opt in
If they ask to be put into a pension scheme, the employer must put them in a pension scheme that can be used for automatic enrolment and pay regular contributions.
2 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. If a member of staff gives notice, or the employer gives them notice, to leave employment before the employer has completed this process, the employer has a choice whether to enrol them or not. The employer also has a choice whether to enrol a director who meets these age and earnings criteria.
3 Has a right to join a pension scheme
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.
Joining a scheme, opting in or opting out
Staff may wish to join, opt in or opt out of (or leave) a scheme and in each case you’ll need to understand what your client needs to do. For staff who ask to:
- join a pension scheme – your client must provide a pension scheme for their staff to pay contributions into, but your client doesn’t have to contribute
- opt into a pension scheme – your client must put them into a pension scheme that can be used for automatic enrolment and pay regular contributions
- opt out of a pension scheme – your client’s staff who have been enrolled or who have opted in, have the right to opt out within a certain period, and your client must act on this request (see our page on opting out).
Bonus payment
If a bonus is paid and 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. The detailed guidance below has in-depth information about this or read our page on employing staff on irregular hours or incomes.
For more information on contributions see working out your client's costs.
Other things to consider
Your client won’t have any automatic enrolment duties if they are the sole director for example. Full details on the circumstances in which directors are exempt from automatic enrolment can be found on director exemptions from automatic enrolment.
There may be other circumstances where an employer may not have any duties. You can find more information about employment contracts by visiting employment status (GOV.UK).
For more information on what to do if your client is not an employer, go to what if I don't have any staff?
Your client may use postponement on their duties start date to delay the automatic enrolment assessment for some or all of their staff for up to three months. Read more information about postponement.
Advanced guidance
These resources may help if you have more detailed questions on the above:
- Detailed guidance 1: Employer duties and defining the workforce
Understand how automatic enrolment applies to staff. - Detailed guidance resource: Different types of worker
Understand the different types of staff your client has and what duties they will have towards each type of staff. - Detailed guidance 3: Assessing the workforce
You’ll need to identify the different categories of staff, for example, if they have any staff outside the UK, different duties may apply. - Detailed guidance 6: Opting in, joining and contractual enrolment
For information about opt-in processes and how contractual enrolment fits with the new legislation.