Workplace Pensions and Auto-Enrolment

By Tom Ashby, Editor · Updated 11 October 2026

5 min read · Facts checked against official sources on 11 October 2026

In short

Employers must automatically enrol workers aged 22 to State Pension age who earn £10,000 or more a year.
At least 8% of qualifying earnings (£6,240 to £50,270) goes in, with at least 3% from your employer.
You can opt out, and get a refund if you do so within a month, but you lose your employer's contributions.
Your pension stays yours when you change jobs. The free Pension Tracing Service helps find old ones.
Plans to enrol people from 18 and on lower earnings are law but not yet switched on.

Minimum total contribution, at least 3% from your employer: 8%
Earnings that trigger automatic enrolment, 2026/27: £10,000
Qualifying earnings band, 2026/27: £6,240 to £50,270
How often your employer must re-enrol you: 3 years

On this page

Who gets automatically enrolled?
How much goes into a workplace pension?
Should you opt out of a workplace pension?
What kind of pension is it?
What happens to your pension when you change jobs?
How to find a lost pension
What if your employer isn’t paying in?
What’s changing for workplace pensions?
Related guides
Sources

A workplace pension is a pension your employer sets up and pays into alongside you. Since automatic enrolment began, most employers have to put eligible staff into one without being asked, and contribute at least 3% of their qualifying earnings. Add your own contribution and tax relief, and at least 8% goes in. This guide explains who is enrolled, what goes in, opting out, what happens when you change jobs, and the changes on the way.

Who gets automatically enrolled?

Your employer must enrol you automatically if you:

are classed as a worker
are aged 22 or over and under State Pension age
earn at least £10,000 a year from that employer
usually work in the UK

The government froze the 2026/27 earnings trigger and qualifying earnings band at their previous levels, to keep things stable while its Pensions Commission reviews the system.

Can you join if you’re not automatically enrolled?

Usually, yes. According to The Pensions Regulator, if you’re aged 16 to 74 and earn more than £6,240 a year but weren’t enrolled automatically (for example because you’re under 22 or earn less than £10,000), you can opt in and your employer must contribute. If you earn £6,240 or less, you can ask to join, and your employer can’t refuse, but it doesn’t have to pay in.

How much goes into a workplace pension?

The legal minimum is 8% of your qualifying earnings, which are your earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax:

Who pays	Minimum share
Your employer	3%
You	4%
Tax relief from the government	1%
Total	8%

Example: on a £30,000 salary, qualifying earnings are £30,000 − £6,240 = £23,760. The minimum 8% is £1,900.80 a year: £712.80 from your employer and £1,188 from you and tax relief combined.

These are minimums. Many employers pay more, or calculate contributions on your whole salary rather than qualifying earnings, and some match extra contributions you choose to make. It’s worth asking HR what your scheme offers, because employer money is the one boost to your pension you can’t get anywhere else. Our pension tax relief calculator shows what your own contributions really cost after tax relief.

Salary sacrifice

Some employers offer salary sacrifice: you give up part of your salary and the employer pays it into your pension instead, which saves National Insurance as well as income tax. From April 2029, HMRC says sacrificed amounts above £2,000 a year will pay National Insurance, though income tax relief is unaffected.

Should you opt out of a workplace pension?

You can opt out, but you lose your employer’s contributions and the tax relief, so it usually means giving up free money. If you opt out within one month of being enrolled, you get your contributions back. After that, what you’ve paid in usually stays in the pension until you retire.

Every three years your employer must re-enrol you if you still qualify, so you’ll get the choice again. If you opted out in the 12 months before that date, it can choose not to. You can also ask to rejoin at any time by writing to your employer, although if you opted out in the last 12 months it doesn’t have to accept you straight back.

What kind of pension is it?

Most workplace pensions today are defined contribution pensions: you build up a pot based on what’s paid in and how the investments perform. Some employers, especially in the public sector, offer a defined benefit pension, which pays an income based on your salary and length of service.

	Defined contribution	Defined benefit
What you get	A pot, depending on contributions and investment growth	An income set by a formula, often linked to salary and years worked
Investment risk	Yours	Your employer’s
If your employer fails	Usually unaffected if a provider runs the scheme	The Pension Protection Fund usually pays 100% if you’ve reached the scheme’s pension age, or 90% if not

If an FCA-authorised pension provider fails, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme may help, but it says it can’t protect occupational pension schemes themselves if they fail. Defined contribution pots are invested, so their value can fall as well as rise.

What happens to your pension when you change jobs?

Your workplace pension still belongs to you. It stays invested when you leave, and your new employer will enrol you in its own scheme. You may be able to keep paying into the old pension or move it into the new one. Over a career this often leaves several small pots, so it’s worth keeping a record of each, updating your address with each provider, and checking the charges. Our guide to SIPPs explains combining old pensions, and what to check first.

How to find a lost pension

If you’ve lost track of an old workplace pension, the government’s Pension Tracing Service can find the contact details for a scheme, online, by phone or by post, if you know the name of the employer or pension provider. It can’t tell you whether you have a pension or what it’s worth, so you then contact the scheme directly.

Pensions dashboards, which will let you see all your pensions in one place online, are being built. Pension schemes in scope must connect by 31 October 2026, and MoneyHelper is building a dashboard, currently in testing. A public launch date hasn’t been confirmed.

What if your employer isn’t paying in?

Check your payslip and pension statements. If contributions are missing, raise it with your employer first. If that doesn’t work, you can report it to The Pensions Regulator, anonymously if you prefer. For other pension complaints, complain to the scheme first; if you’re not happy with the response, the Pensions Ombudsman is free and independent, and complaints generally need to be made within three years.

What’s changing for workplace pensions?

Younger and lower-paid workers. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 gives the government powers to enrol people from 18 and count earnings from the first pound. These powers haven’t been brought into force, and no date has been set. The government’s Pensions Commission is due to make final recommendations in spring 2027.
Small pots and value for money. The Pension Schemes Act 2026 allows small dormant pots of £1,000 or less to be combined automatically, and introduces value-for-money checks. The detailed rules still need regulations, and The Pensions Regulator’s roadmap points to them being phased in between 2027 and 2030.
Salary sacrifice. The £2,000 National Insurance limit starts in April 2029.

When you come to use your pension, our guides to pension drawdown and pension tax relief explain the options and the tax.

Sources

Our guides are general information and education, not personal financial advice. If you are unsure whether an investment is right for you, speak to a regulated financial adviser. Capital at risk. Investments can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you put in.