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Browse frequently asked questions and answers on key HR issues. Navigate by topic or key word search. View latest additions or suggest a question to the XpertHR editorial team.
Who is entitled to a state retirement pension? What are the rates for the basic state pension? What is the state second pension? Are employers obliged to offer an occupational pension scheme? Is it permissible for an employer to offer a pension scheme only to full-time employees? What options are open to employees if their employer does not offer an occupational pension scheme? What is a stakeholder pension scheme? Are employers legally obliged to make stakeholder pension schemes available to all employees? What happens if the insolvent employer has failed to pay contributions into a pension plan? Does the National Insurance Fund cover unpaid pension fund contributions in an insolvency situation? Do employers have to provide survivors' pension benefits to same-sex partners? What changes to workplace pension law are being made by the legislation on auto-enrolment? When does auto-enrolment come into force? How do employers know what their auto-enrolment staging date is? What is the relevance for employers of 1 April 2012 in relation to auto-enrolment? Will auto-enrolment affect small employers?
The pensions auto-enrolment provisions apply to workers. A worker is defined for these purposes as as an individual who works under a contract of employment or any other contract to perform work or services personally for another party, where that other party is not a client or customer of a profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual.
Workers who are eligible for automatic enrolment into a qualifying pension scheme are known as "eligible jobholders". To fall within the eligible jobholder category, a worker must satisfy certain requirements by reference to his or her age and earnings. He or she must be:
Workers who are not eligible for auto-enrolment will fall into one of two categories. They will be either a "non-eligible jobholder" or an "entitled worker", depending on their level of earnings. Non-eligible jobholders can choose to opt in to a qualifying scheme and the employer must arrange pension scheme membership and make contributions in respect of them. Entitled workers can also join a pension scheme. However, this does not need to be a qualifying pension scheme under the auto-enrolment rules and the employer does not have to make contributions on their behalf.
The Pensions Regulator's detailed guidance on Employer duties and defining the workforce (PDF format, 141K) (on the Pensions Regulator website) includes further information on the different categories of workers.
Employers need to carry out a contractual analysis to determine how their workforce divides into the different categories.
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