To help people save for their retirement the Government requires all employers in the UK to automatically enrol their workers into a workplace pension, if they meet certain requirements. This is known as automatic enrolment and already happens in the LGPS, with most new employees automatically joining the Scheme when they commence employment.
Under automatic enrolment if you are not already a member of the LGPS, you will automatically join the Scheme at the point in the future that you:
If you are automatically enrolled, you can choose to leave the LGPS by opting-out at any time. You can also view the details of the different categories of worker and how they are impacted by automatic-enrolment further down on this page.
If you are already a member of the LGPS, automatic enrolment will not affect you as you are already a member of a qualifying pension scheme. However, you may be affected if you change jobs or take on another job in the future.
Each employer will have its own date set for when it must comply with automatic enrolment. As a result, you need to contact your own employer in order to find out the actual date when it must comply with the automatic enrolment requirements.
An employer has to apply automatic enrolment of workers into a workplace pension arrangement from its 'staging date'. This is the date that has been allocated to them by the Pensions Regulator and is set according to the number of people it employs. As a result, not all LGPS employers will have the same 'staging date'. You will need to contact your own employer to find out when it must comply with automatic enrolment, if it hasn't already done so.
The aim is to encourage people to save towards their retirement and have enough income to enjoy it. The full new State Pension is £221.20 a week. This is designed to be a foundation and is unlikely to be enough for most people when they retire.
Assuming that you meet the criteria then the answer would be yes.
The law requires all employers to automatically re-enrol their workers into a workplace pension every three years if they meet certain requirements.
All workers can join the pension scheme at any time if they want to.
If you meet the criteria you may be put back into the LGPS even if you have previously decided that being a member is not right for you.
If you are automatically enrolled, you can choose to leave the LGPS by opting-out at any time.
Yes. If you would like to join the LGPS and you are under age 75, you can do so at any time, regardless of how much you earn or the length of your contract. Please contact your employer if you wish to join or re-join the LGPS.
In the following table you can find out about the different categories of worker and how you may be affected under the automatic-enrolment rules.
What Type of worker are you? |
How will automatic enrolment impact you? |
|
| Age 22 or over and you earn over £10,000 a year (or pro rata in any pay period) and are under State Pension age. | Eligible jobholder | You will be automatically enrolled in the LGPS. |
| You are 22 years or over, but you earn between £6,240 and £10,000 a year (or pro rata in any pay period). | Non-eligible jobholder | You will not be automatically enrolled into the LGPS, but you can still join by contacting your employer. If you do not join, you will be automatically enrolled in the LGPS if you become an 'eligible jobholder' in the future. |
| You do not meet any of the requirements above. | Entitled worker | You will not be automatically enrolled into the LGPS, but you can still join by contacting your employer. If you do not join, you will be automatically enrolled in the LGPS if you become an 'eligible jobholder' in the future. |
These are the pay limits as of April 2024, they are subject to change each April. If you are unsure of the pay limits, you should contact your employer.