Automatic enrolment compels employers to place eligible staff into a workplace pension scheme that meets certain criteria.
For workers who are not eligible, employers must provide them with the opportunity to opt into or join a pension scheme, depending on how they have been assessed.
Workers who are enrolled will have a one month period in which they can opt out.
The eligibility of workers will depend on their age, earnings and whether they work, or normally work, in the UK. An eligible jobholder would be aged between 22 and state pension age, and earning in the 2013-2014 tax year the equivalent of £9,440 or more on an annual basis in a given pay period - for example £182 a week.
They must be automatically enrolled into a qualifying pension scheme, unless they are already a member, under the new rules.
For workers who are already enrolled into a pension scheme, employers will need to carry out a number of checks, for example to ensure the scheme meets a set of qualifying standards and that workers are paying in sufficient contributions.
Those aged 16-21 years - or above state retirement age - are ‘entitled workers’ to whom the employer must provide information and perhaps arrange membership of the scheme. In such cases there is no requirement for the employer to contribute.
If these employees earn more than £5,668 then they become ‘non-eligible jobholders’ and can elect to join the scheme and receive contributions from their employer.
