The date from which employers are required to auto-enrol eligible jobholders into a qualifying workplace pension scheme (known as the "staging date") depends on the employer's PAYE-scheme size and reference number on 1 April 2012.
| PAYE-scheme size |
Staging date |
120,000 or more |
1 October 2012 |
50,000 to 119,999 |
1 November 2012 |
30,000 to 49,999 |
1 January 2013 |
20,000 to 29,999 |
1 February 2013 |
10,000 to 19,999 |
1 March 2013 |
6,000 to 9,999 |
1 April 2013 |
4,100 to 5,999 |
1 May 2013 |
4,000 to 4,099 |
1 June 2013 |
3,000 to 3,999 |
1 July 2013 |
2,000 to 2,999 |
1 August 2013 |
1,250 to 1,999 |
1 September 2013 |
800 to 1,249 |
1 October 2013 |
500 to 799 |
1 November 2013 |
350 to 499 |
1 January 2014 |
250 to 349 |
1 February 2014 |
160 to 249 |
1 April 2014 |
90 to 159 |
1 May 2014 |
62 to 89 |
1 July 2014 |
61 |
1 August 2014 |
60 |
1 October 2014 |
59 |
1 November 2014 |
58 |
1 January 2015 |
54 to 57 |
1 March 2015 |
50 to 53 |
1 April 2015 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 92, A1 to A9, B1 to B9, AA to AZ, BA to BW, M1 to M9, MA to MZ, Z1 to Z9, ZA to ZZ, 0A to 0Z, 1A to 1Z or 2A to 2Z |
1 June 2015 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference number BX |
1 July 2015 |
40 to 49 |
1 August 2015 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference number BY |
1 September 2015 |
30 to 39 |
1 October 2015 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference number BZ |
1 November 2015 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 02 to 04, C1 to C9, D1 to D9, CA to CZ or DA to DZ |
1 January 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 00, 05 to 07, E1 to E9 or EA to EZ
|
1 February 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 01, 08 to 11, F1 to F9, G1 to G9, FA to FZ or GA to GZ
|
1 March 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 12 to 16, 3A to 3Z, H1 to H9 or HA to HZ
|
1 April 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers I1 to I9 or IA to IZ
|
1 May 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 17 to 22, 4A to 4Z, J1 to J9 or JA to JZ
|
1 June 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 23 to 29, 5A to 5Z, K1 to K9 or KA to KZ
|
1 July 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 30 to 37, 6A to 6Z, L1 to L9 or LA to LZ
|
1 August 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers N1 to N9 or NA to NZ
|
1 September 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 38 to 46, 7A to 7Z, O1 to O9 or OA to OZ
|
1 October 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 47 to 57, 8A to 8Z, Q1 to Q9, R1 to R9, S1 to S9, T1 to T9, QA to QZ, RA to RZ, SA to SZ or TA to TZ
|
1 November 2016 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 58 to 69, 9A to 9Z, U1 to U9, V1 to V9, W1 to W9, UA to UZ, VA to VZ or WA to WZ
|
1 January 2017 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 70 to 83, X1 to X9, Y1 to Y9, XA to XZ or YA to YZ
|
1 February 2017 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers P1 to P9 or PA to PZ
|
1 March 2017 |
Fewer than 30 with the last 2 characters in their PAYE reference numbers 84 to 91 or 93 to 99
|
1 April 2017 |
Fewer than 30 not meeting any other description contained in the first column of this table
|
1 April 2017 |
Employer with no PAYE scheme
|
1 April 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013)
|
1 May 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014)
|
1 July 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015)
|
1 August 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 April 2015 and 31 December 2015)
|
1 October 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 January 2016 and 30 September 2016)
|
1 November 2017 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 October 2016 and 30 June 2017)
|
1 January 2018 |
New employer (PAYE income first payable between 1 July 2017 and 30 September 2017)
|
1 February 2018 |
Where, on 1 April 2012, the employer had fewer than 50 workers and had, or was part of, one or more PAYE schemes in which there were 50 or more persons, and the employer so chooses, the staging date will be modified as prescribed by reg.4A of the Employers' Duties (Implementation) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/4).
Employers have the option of bringing forward their staging date. They also have the option of postponing auto-enrolment by up to three months, although jobholders can ask to opt in during this period, which will override postponement.
The XpertHR FAQs section provides answers to frequently asked questions on auto-enrolment:
Related quick reference items
Pensions auto-enrolment - categories of worker |