New employers and Auto Enrolment

Due to workplace pension rules, every employer in the UK must put qualifying staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it. This is called 'automatic enrolment'.

New employers have six weeks from the start date of their first worker to ensure they comply with auto enrolment duties.

On the date your duties start you must assess your staff to see if they meet the age and earnings criteria:

• aged between 22 up to State Pension Age
• and earning over £10,000 per year (or £833 per month or, £192 per week)

If they do, you must put them into a pension scheme and both of you must contribute. Even if your staff member doesn’t meet the above criteria, you still have responsibilities under the workplace pension rules.

We can help you to meet your obligations under the workplace pension rules, including running your payroll and liaising with your chosen pension scheme. 

Date published 10 Aug 2017 | Last updated 20 Sep 2022

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.