Automatic enrolment is a government initiative to help more people save for later life through a pension scheme at work. It requires employers to automatically enrol their eligible workers into a pension scheme and to contribute to it.
Automatic enrolment was rolled out in stages across all employers between October 2012 and February 2018. From February 2018 all employers are required to offer a workplace pension to eligible workers.
Employers have a responsibility to enrol employees into a pension scheme if they:
- are aged between 22 and state pension age
- are earning a salary of at least £10,000 p.a. (under current rules)
- normally work in the UK under a contract of employment
If you are a new employee who is eligible to join you will be entered into the FPS 2015 when you start as part of your contract of employment. If you opt out your employer will be required to re-enrol you around every 3 years on a set re-enrolment date, if you are still eligible.
Your employer may choose not to automatically enrol you if:
- you opted out of the FPS within 12 months of the date you are due to be automatically enrolled
- you have given notice of your resignation or retirement, or you been given notice of dismissal
- your employer believes that you hold a lifetime allowance protection, such as Primary, Enhanced or Fixed Protection (see tax and your pension benefits for more information about these protections)
You can choose to join the FPS 2015 at any time if you are eligible. See the section on who can join? for more information about this.
Please contact your employer's HR or payroll department if you would like to know more.
What if I’m already a member of the FPS?
There will be no change to your current arrangements and your FPS membership will continue.
What if I don’t want to join a pension scheme?
You can opt out of the FPS 2015 at any time. There’s more information in our opting out section.