Prior to this, many people had no access to pension provision which included an employer contribution.

This may have been because they did not meet their employer’s qualification criteria, they had not joined a scheme on offer or their employer did not offer a scheme with a contribution.

Auto-enrolment helps people save for their retirement through the workplace as UK employers are required to enrol their eligible workers into a pension scheme that meets government requirements.

It is being phased in, with the largest employers enrolling their workers first and now it is the turn of small and micro employers with an estimated 1.8m required to enrol their workers up to 2018.

Employers and workers then contribute into it and the government adds tax relief on top, although this may change, as the pensions tax system is currently the focus of a consultation.

This guide will explain what are the auto-enrolment requirements for employers, how advisers can ensure they select the right scheme for their corporate clients and ongoing due diligence that should be undertaken.

Supporting material produced by Gavin Perera-Betts, executive director of product and marketing at Nest, Morten Nilsson, chief executive of Now: Pensions, Angela Seymour-Jackson, managing director of workplace at Aegon UK, and Griselda Williams, head of business development at Trust Pensions.

Now:Pensions conducted with 248 advisers earlier this year revealed ‘guaranteed acceptance’ was the most important factor for advisers when considering an appropriate scheme.