Please note that most advice on auto-enrolment, occupational pensions and workplace pensions is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority but by The Pensions Regulator.
What is Automatic Enrolment?
A workplace pension is a way of saving for retirement arranged by an individual’s employer. It is sometimes called a ‘company pension’, an ‘occupational pension’ or a ‘works pension’.
Automatic enrolment into a workplace pension is an easy, hassle-free way for workers to save for their retirement while they are earning.
Saving into a workplace pension can also help individuals to build up pension savings more quickly as they are not saving on their own. Their employer and the government (in the form of tax relief) also pay into the workplace pension.
Why is This Happening?
Millions of people are not saving enough to have the income they are likely to want in retirement. Life expectancy is also increasing. On average, pensioners are expected to live longer into their retirement, and so will require an income over a longer period.
Who Will Be Enrolled Into a Workplace Pension?
Employers will automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension who:
- are not already in a qualifying pension scheme
- are aged 22 or over
- are under State Pension age
- earn more than £10,000 a year (this figure is reviewed every year though it has remained unchanged since 2014), and work or usually work in the UK
Opting Out of a Workplace Pension
If a worker opts out within one month from the day they officially become a member of the scheme, it will be as if they were never a member of the pension scheme and any payments made by them to their pension will be refunded. If they choose to opt out after this period, depending on the scheme, the payments already made may not be refunded and will remain in their pension scheme until they retire.
Deciding to Rejoin a Workplace Pension
Staff who have previously asked to leave the scheme, either after being enrolled or opting in, can opt-in again. But if they’ve already asked to opt-in during the last 12 months and subsequently asked to leave or ceased membership, it's up to the employer to decide whether to enrol them again.
If a worker opts out or stops paying into the workplace pension their employer has a duty to automatically enrol them back into their pension scheme at regular intervals, usually every three years. This is to give those workers who have stopped saving into a workplace pension the opportunity to reconsider their finances and pension saving options. They can choose to stay in this time or opt out again.
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