Auto-enrolment
Auto-enrolment is the reason most UK employees have a workplace pension without ever having to ask for one. Since 2012, employers have been legally required to automatically enrol eligible staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it, flipping pension saving from an active choice into a sensible default. Today the minimum total contribution is 8% of qualifying earnings, with at least 3% coming from your employer — money you simply don't get if you opt out. But the rules have plenty of nuance: who counts as eligible, how contributions are actually calculated, what happens if you work part-time or across several jobs, and why the self-employed sit outside the system entirely. Whether you've just received an enrolment letter, want to check your contribution rate, or are wondering whether opting out ever makes sense, the guides below walk through each part of auto-enrolment in plain English.
How auto-enrolment works
Who gets enrolled automatically, when, and what happens to your money once you're in a workplace scheme.
Contribution rates 2026/27
The current 8% minimum, how qualifying earnings are calculated, and how to check what you and your employer actually pay.
Can I opt out?
Your right to leave the scheme, what you'd lose by doing so, and why re-enrolment might put you back in later.
Auto-enrolment for part-time workers
Why the £10,000 threshold applies per job, and what to do if you juggle more than one part-time role.
Why it doesn't apply to the self-employed
The gap in the system for self-employed workers, and the alternative ways to build your own pension.