Members Auto enrolment

Auto enrolment means that, as long as you qualify, your workplace must put you into a pension and pay into your pension savings.

a cut out of a man wearing a shirt and smiling with an open mouth at the camera

What is auto enrolment?

Auto enrolment was introduced in 2012 to get more people saving for their retirement, after the government found many people had few or no pension savings other than the State Pension.  

Since it was introduced, over 10 million people have been enrolled into a pension and started saving for their retirement with their workplace’s help.     

now:pensions is an auto enrolment pension.  

How auto enrolment works

paper-write

Your employer enrols you into their workplace pension

currency-pound-bubble

You and your employer pay in to your pension savings

saving-money-tree

We invest your pension savings

check-payment-give

You can start taking your pension savings once you’re 55

What auto enrolment means for you

Your workplace has chosen now:pensions as your auto enrolment pension provider.

This means you’re building up pension savings in a now:pensions account. Your workplace pays money in as well as you. We invest your pension savings to help them grow over the long term. And you can use our now:u app to manage your pension, see how your savings are building up and how much you could have when you retire.

Who qualifies to be auto enrolled?

To qualify to be auto enrolled, you must: 

  • be between 22 and State Pension age
  • normally work in the UK
  • earn at least £192 a week, £833 a month or £10,000 a year from one job.

How to join now:pensions

If you qualify to be auto enrolled you don’t have to do anything. Your workplace will enrol you. We’ll send you an email telling you more about now:pensions and what you can do.

You can still ask to be in now:pensions even if you don’t qualify to be auto enrolled. As long as you’re between 16 and 74, your workplace must put you into a pension and pay into your pension savings.

If you earn less than £120 a week, £520 a month or £6,240 a year, your workplace doesn’t have to pay into your pension savings, but they may choose to.

A defined contribution (DC) pension is a type of modern pension plan you can use to save for an income when you retire.

DC pensions are the most common type of pension nowadays. Millions of people are currently saving in a DC pension. If your workplace automatically enrols you into a pension, it’ll be a DC pension. If you take out a personal pension, that’ll also be a DC pension.

now:pensions is a workplace DC pensions.

Find out more

What you pay

Your workplace regularly takes your pension payments from your earnings and pays them into now:pensions. How much you pay depends on how your workplace calculates your pension payments.

Many workplaces use qualifying earnings. These are all your earnings between a lower and upper limit set by the government and reviewed each year. They include salary, wages, commission, bonuses, overtime, statutory sick pay and statutory parental leave pay (maternity, paternity and adoption pay). 

The minimum legal requirement for auto enrolment pensions is 8% of qualifying earnings. Workplaces must pay at least 3% of this. So you pay the remaining 5%. If your workplace pays more than 3%, you pay less. For example, if your workplace pays 4% of qualifying earnings, you pay 4%. 

Some workplaces use a different definition of pensionable earnings – the earnings that count towards pension payments. Ask your workplace how they work out pension payments and how much you pay.

How to stop paying in

logout-2

You don’t have to pay into now:pensions. You can ask to stop paying in at any time. But if you do, your workplace stops paying in too.  

Frequently asked questions

See all support for members

Auto enrolment means that, as long as you qualify, your workplace must put you into a pension without you asking. You and your workplace pay money in to build up pension savings for you.  

To qualify to be auto enrolled, you must: 

  • normally work in the UK
  • be between 22 and State Pension age
  • earn more than £10,000 a year (£833 a month or £192 a week) from one job

Auto enrolment was introduced in 2012 to get more people saving for their retirement, after the government found many people had few or no pension savings other than the State Pension.  

Since it was introduced, over 10 million people have been enrolled into a pension and started saving for their retirement with their workplace’s help.     

Find out more about auto enrolment.

Auto enrolment was introduced after the UK government found many people had very small, or no, pension savings other than the State Pension.

It’s designed to make sure workplaces provide workplace pensions that help more people save for their retirement.

You qualify to be auto enrolled if you:

  • are aged between 22 and State Pension age
  • normally work in the UK
  • earn more than £10,000 a year (£833 a month or £192 a week) from one job.

This makes you an ‘eligible jobholder’.

Yes. As long as you’re aged between 16 and 74, you can ask to join your workplace pension scheme. Your workplace must put you in and pay in to your pension savings (although if you earn less than £6,240 a year they don’t have to pay in).

Yes, you can start paying in again at any time. If you have to stop paying in for a while, have a plan to start paying in again as soon as you can afford to.  

If you start paying in to your pension again, your workplace must also re-start its payments if you earn more than £6,240 a year (£520 a month or £120 a week).  

Log in to now:u. From your Snapshot, go to Start saving and follow the instructions.

Yes. You still have a right to stop paying in and get back any money you’ve paid in so far. But you must tell us you want to stop paying in within the one month period as shown in your re-enrolment email and as shown on now:u.

You can still stop paying in at any time after this, but your money will stay with now:pensions until you.  

Stop paying in here.