Normally, this is 5% of your auto enrolment qualifying earnings.
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%.
You can see how much you and your workplace pay by logging in to now:u and going to Payments in.
What are qualifying earnings?
Qualifying earnings are all 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).
Other definitions of pensionable earnings
Some workplaces use a different definition of pensionable earnings, such as basic earnings or total earnings.
Basic earnings include your basic pay and any statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay. Workplaces can exclude things like bonuses, overtime and commission.
If your workplace uses basic earnings, the minimum legal requirement is 9%. Your employer must pay at least 4% of this, so you pay at least 5%.
Total earnings are all your earnings including wages, commission, overtime, bonuses, performance-related pay and any other earnings.
If your workplace uses total earnings, the minimum legal requirement is 7%. Your workplace must pay at least 3% of this, so you pay at least 4%.