From 1st April 2018, the minimum pension contributions under Auto Enrolment will increase to:
Employer: 2%
Employee: 3%
(for a majority of pension schemes 2.4% will be taken due to the tax relief)
The Earnings Trigger (the amount an Employee has to earn to qualify for Auto Enrolment) remains at:
£ 10,000 per annum / £ 833 per month / £ 192 per week
The Qualifying Earnings Threshold (the amount of pay over which an employee attracts pension deductions on) will rise to:
£ 6,032 per annum / £ 503 per month / £ 116 per week
There is an earnings cap known as the “Upper Level of Qualifying Earnings“, above which pension contributions are not payable under the general Auto Enrolment legislation (some pensions schemes may have been adapted to eliminate this).
The Upper Level is: £46,350 per annum / £3,862.50 per month / £891.35 per week
No More Staging Dates
Staging Dates for Auto Enrolment have all passed. New Employers now have immediate Auto Enrolment Duties from day one of their first Employee starting work (although a postponement period of up to 3 months from that date can still be applied).
Sole Directors running Limited Companies do not have to Auto Enrol themselves into a pension scheme, but must still inform the Pensions Regulator that they are not an Employer and review the situation immediately should they take on staff.