auto-enrolment criteria

Flugelhorn

Are we missing something? DS has just had a letter saying he can't be autoenrolled as either he is:
1) Under 22 (he isn't)
2) Over pension age (he isn't) 
3) earns below 10K (he doesn't)
presume this is just an error but is there is something else that is needed?

eskbanker

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/automatic-enrolment expands on that slightly:

Is every worker eligible to join?

If you are not already in a qualifying workplace pension scheme, you will be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme if you meet the following criteria;

• You are aged between 22 and State Pension age
• You earn at least £10,000 per year
• You usually (‘ordinarily’) work in the UK

If you do not fit the above criteria you will still have the option to join your employers workplace pension scheme and in some cases your employer may even contribute. You should check this with them.

However, if a standard boilerplate letter won't give the actual reason then he'll need to ask his employer....

More at https://www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/joining-a-workplace-pension too:

When your employer does not have to automatically enrol you

Your employer usually does not have to automatically enrol you if you do not meet the previous criteria or if any of the following apply:

• you’ve already given notice to your employer that you’re leaving your job, or they’ve given you notice
• you have evidence of your lifetime allowance protection (for example, a certificate from HMRC)
• you’ve already taken a pension that meets the automatic enrolment rules and your employer arranged it
• you get a one-off payment from a workplace pension scheme that’s closed (a ‘winding up lump sum’), and then leave and rejoin the same job within 12 months of getting the payment
• more than 12 months before your staging date, you left (‘opted out’) of a pension arranged through your employer
• you’re from an EU member state and are in a EU cross-border pension scheme
• you’re in a limited liability partnership
• you’re a director without an employment contract and employ at least one other person in your company

You can usually still join their pension if you want to. Your employer cannot refuse.

Marcon

Best idea is for him to contact his employer giving his age and annual salary, and say that possibly he received the letter in error.

Flugelhorn

thanks for all the info, certainly looks like he should be auto-enrolled  - he is going to contact the pension person ASAP , has been in role for a couple of months but much of the workforce not on site catching up with these things is a bit slow.

Flugelhorn

PS  info also finally explains why when employers tried to auto-enrol me despite me a) exceeding LTA and b) taking pension, they climbed down so  easily - they were usually much more belligerent than that