What is automatic pension enrolment?

Automatic pension enrolment is the most recent law on pension arrangements for employees. It states that all employers must enrol eligible staff into a pension scheme, and make contributions towards it.

Even if you only employ 1 person there may be action you need to take.

It's called automatic enrolment because employees don't need to do anything to join the scheme. If they don't want to be enrolled they must opt out. It is not automatic for employers though, and you must ensure you comply with the legal requirement to auto-enrol eligible workers by a specific staging date.

Automatic enrolment is being introduced in stages so each business needs to know the date when you need to have a scheme in place, and there are tasks that need to be completed as the date approaches. It started with large employers in 2012 but now all employers are reaching their dates, including those with fewer than 30 employees.

There are penalties for any employer who does not fulfil the requirements and the Pensions Regulator will impose fines for non compliance.

Find out more about Automatic Enrolment - for information on getting started, including finding out your staging date, the steps each business should take to get ready, and what to do when you have a scheme in place see the Pensions Regulator(opens in a new window).

For independent advice visit the Unbiased website(opens in a new window).

Need help to meet your obligations as an employer, particularly in processing and evidencing payroll deductions?

Auto-enrolment reporting is an important part of your payroll process - visit NatWest Payroll(opens in a new window).