Workplace pensions

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Joining a workplace pension

All employers must provide a workplace pension scheme. This is called ‘automatic enrolment’.

Your employer must automatically enrol you into a pension scheme and make contributions to your pension if all of the following apply:

When your employer does not have to automatically enrol you

Your employer usually does not have to automatically enrol you if you do not meet the previous criteria or if any of the following apply:

  • you’ve already given notice to your employer that you’re leaving your job, or they’ve given you notice
  • you have evidence of your lifetime allowance protection (for example, a certificate from HMRC)
  • you’ve already taken a pension that meets the automatic enrolment rules and your employer arranged it
  • you get a one-off payment from a workplace pension scheme that’s closed (a ‘winding up lump sum’), and then leave and rejoin the same job within 12 months of getting the payment
  • more than 12 months before your staging date, you left (‘opted out’) of a pension arranged through your employer
  • you’re from an EU member state and in an EU cross-border pension scheme
  • 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

You can usually still join their pension if you want to. Your employer cannot refuse.

If your income is low

Your employer does not have to contribute to your pension if you earn these amounts or less:

  • £520 a month
  • £120 a week
  • £480 over 4 weeks

What happens when you’re automatically enrolled

Your employer must write to you when you’ve been automatically enrolled into their workplace pension scheme. They must tell you:

  • the date they added you to the pension scheme
  • the type of pension scheme and who runs it
  • how much they’ll contribute and how much you’ll have to pay in
  • how to leave the scheme, if you want to
  • how tax relief applies to you

Delaying your enrolment date

Your employer can delay the date they must enrol you into a pension scheme by up to 3 months.

In some cases they may be able to delay longer if they’ve chosen either:

Your employer must:

  • tell you about the delay in writing
  • let you join in the meantime if you ask to

What your employer cannot do

Your employer cannot:

  • unfairly dismiss or discriminate against you for being in a workplace pension scheme
  • encourage or force you to opt out
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Part of Plan your retirement income: step by step

  1. Step 1 Check when you can retire

    1. Check what age you can get your State Pension
    2. Find out about working after you reach State Pension age
    3. Find out if you can retire early with your workplace or personal pension

  2. and Check how much pension you could get

    1. Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast)

    You may also be paying into a:

    1. Find out if you’ll pay tax on your pension
    2. Find contact details for a lost pension

  3. Step 2 Increase your pension

    You might be able to increase the amount you get if you delay your pension.

    1. Find out about delaying your pension

    You might be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record (such as, from when you were not working or claiming benefits).

    1. Check if you can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions

    For advice about increasing your workplace or private pension, speak to a financial adviser.

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  4. Step 3 Check what other financial support you could get

    Check what financial help you could get if you:

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