Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in the UK must put certain staff into a pension scheme and contribute towards it. This is called ‘Automatic Enrolment’. This requirement applies to all employers including individuals who employ someone to work directly for them, such as a cleaner or nanny.
Employers must pay at least the minimum ‘employer contribution’ into the pension scheme with the employee contributing the balance needed to make up the total minimum contribution. An employer may make a higher contribution towards this total minimum contribution in order reduce or fully cover the employee’s contribution. Current contribution levels are given in the table below:
Date effective |
Employer minimum contribution |
Staff contribution |
Total minimum contribution |
6 April 2019 onwards |
3% |
5% |
8% |
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