You are obliged to assess your whole staff for whether they are eligible for auto-enrolment, but you may not have to automatically enrol all of them.
| Age |
Age |
Age |
|
|
Monthly earnings |
From 16 to 21 |
From 22 to State Pension Age (SPA) |
From State Pension Age (SPA) to 74 |
|
£481 and below: |
Has the right to join pension scheme. |
Has right to join pension scheme. |
Has the right to join pension scheme. |
|
Over £481 up to £833: |
Has a right to opt in. |
Hass a right to opt in. |
Has a right to opt in. |
|
Over £833: |
Has a right to opt in. |
Automatically enrolled. |
Has a right to opt in. |
What's the difference between joining and opting in? Simply, opting in means the employee has the right to join your auto-enrolment pension scheme, whereas as joining means they have the right to join a scheme, not necessarily the one you use for auto-enrolment.
It's against the law to try and affect your employees decision to opt in or out. Examples of this would include offering cash bonuses for opting out, or withholding pay.