Workplace pension auto-enrolment, handled for you from start to finish. Every employer in the UK has legal duties to put eligible staff into a workplace pension and pay into it, even if you employ just one person. Taxlab, Chartered Certified Accountants in Bathgate, West Lothian, manages auto-enrolment for employers across Scotland as part of our payroll service.
Talk to us about auto-enrolment
What is auto-enrolment?
Automatic enrolment is the law that requires employers to put eligible workers into a workplace pension scheme automatically, and to pay into it, unless the worker chooses to opt out. It aims to help more people save for retirement on top of the State Pension.
Your duties start on the day your first member of staff starts work, known as your duties start date. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has a step-by-step guide for employers that walks you through what you need to do.
Who must you enrol?
You must put staff into a pension scheme and pay contributions if they are eligible workers. That means they:
- are aged between 22 and State Pension age
- earn over £10,000 a year (£833 a month or £192 a week)
- normally work in the UK
You must enrol them, and write to them, within six weeks of the day they meet these criteria. Other staff have the right to ask to join your scheme. If they earn at least £6,240 a year (£520 a month or £120 a week) and are aged 16 to 74, you must also pay employer contributions for them if they ask to join.
Auto-enrolment thresholds and contributions for 2026/27
| Threshold | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Earnings trigger for automatic enrolment | £10,000 a year |
| Qualifying earnings band | £6,240 to £50,270 a year |
| Minimum total contribution | 8% of qualifying earnings |
| Minimum employer contribution | 3% of qualifying earnings |
The government has kept the thresholds at their 2025/26 levels for 2026/27 to provide stability while the Pensions Commission, launched on 21 July 2025, reviews pension adequacy, including automatic enrolment. See the DWP’s review of the auto-enrolment thresholds for 2026/27 and TPR’s guidance on making contributions. You can choose to pay more than the minimum.
Your auto-enrolment duties step by step
- Choose a pension scheme – for example the government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), or another qualifying scheme.
- Assess your staff every time you run payroll to see who must be enrolled.
- Enrol eligible staff and write to them explaining what you have done and their right to opt out.
- Pay contributions into the scheme through payroll every pay period.
- Declare your compliance to The Pensions Regulator within five months of your duties start date.
- Keep going – monitor ages and earnings every pay period, process requests to join or leave, keep records, and every three years re-enrol eligible staff who have left the scheme and complete a re-declaration of compliance.
Postponement
You can delay assessing staff for up to three months, known as postponement. This can help with seasonal or temporary staff and probationary periods, but you must write to staff to tell them.
Opt-outs
Staff can choose to leave the scheme. If they opt out within one month of being enrolled, you must stop deductions and refund what they have paid within one month of their request.
Fines for not complying
The responsibility for complying rests with the employer, even if someone else helps you. The Pensions Regulator can impose fines ranging from a £400 fixed penalty to a daily escalating penalty of £50 to £10,000. You may also have to backdate missed contributions.
How Taxlab helps
- Setting up a pension scheme with Nest or any other qualifying provider you choose
- Assessing your staff every payroll run and enrolling those who are eligible
- Sending the required letters to your staff
- Calculating and submitting contributions to your pension provider each pay period
- Handling opt-ins, opt-outs and refunds
- Completing your declaration of compliance and three-yearly re-declaration
- Dealing with correspondence from The Pensions Regulator and your pension provider
Because we run auto-enrolment as part of your payroll, everything stays in step: contributions are deducted correctly, assessments happen automatically and nothing is missed.
Auto-enrolment FAQs
I only have one employee. Do I still need to auto-enrol?
Yes. Auto-enrolment duties apply as soon as you employ your first member of staff. You must assess them and, if they are eligible, enrol them and pay contributions.
Do directors need to be auto-enrolled?
It depends on your roles and contracts. A director without an employment contract is not treated as a member of staff. If the company has only directors and no other staff, duties apply only where at least two people have employment contracts with the company. As soon as you employ someone who is not a director, you have duties. See TPR’s guidance on directors and automatic enrolment, and talk to us so we can check your position.
Can an employee choose not to join?
Eligible staff must be enrolled, but they can then opt out. If they opt out within one month, they get a full refund of their contributions. Every three years, at re-enrolment, you must put eligible staff who have left the scheme back in, and they can opt out again.
Talk to us about auto-enrolment
Call 0845 862 6009, email hello@taxlab.co.uk or message us on WhatsApp.
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year. This page gives general information only and is not pensions or financial advice. Taxlab Limited is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and does not give advice on which pension scheme to choose.