How often does workplace pension re-enrolment happen?

Full answer

Automatic enrolment is not a one-off event -- employers have an ongoing legal duty to periodically re-enrol eligible staff who have opted out or ceased active membership, ensuring people who may have made a one-off decision to opt out years ago are given a fresh opportunity (and a fresh nudge) to save into a workplace pension. **The three-year cycle** Re-enrolment must happen approximately every three years, on a date the employer selects that falls within a 6-month window (3 months before to 3 months after) the third anniversary of the employer's original automatic enrolment staging date, or the anniversary of their previous re-enrolment date if this is a subsequent cycle. **Who gets re-enrolled** On the chosen re-enrolment date, the employer must identify any eligible jobholder (broadly, staff aged 22 to State Pension age earning above the earnings trigger, currently £10,000 a year) who is not already an active member of a qualifying pension scheme -- typically because they previously opted out, or ceased contributing -- and automatically re-enrol them, giving them the statutory right to opt out again if they choose. **Who is NOT re-enrolled** Certain staff can be excluded from re-enrolment even if they meet the age/earnings criteria -- for example, someone who opted out within the 12 months immediately before the re-enrolment date, someone who has given notice to leave or been given notice of dismissal, or someone who has already used up their lifetime allowance protections in a way that would be affected by further contributions (a narrower consideration since LTA abolition, but similar protections around the Lump Sum Allowance can still be relevant). **Employer duties around re-enrolment** The employer must write to each re-enrolled member confirming they have been put back into the pension scheme and explaining their right to opt out again, and must complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within 5 months of the re-enrolment date, confirming the exercise has been carried out correctly. **Worked example** An employer's original staging date for automatic enrolment was 1 June 2019. Their first re-enrolment date fell within the window of 1 March to 31 August 2022 (their chosen date was 1 June 2022). Their next re-enrolment cycle falls within the window of 1 March to 31 August 2025, and the one after that within 1 March to 31 August 2028. An employee who opted out of the pension in January 2024 (more than 12 months before the 2025 re-enrolment date) would be automatically re-enrolled in the 2025 cycle unless another exclusion applies, giving them a fresh chance to reconsider pension saving, though they remain free to opt out again if they wish. **Practical tip** Employees who are re-enrolled and are confident they do not want to rejoin the pension should still check their reasons carefully before opting out again, since automatic enrolment (with employer matching contributions) usually represents a significant, effectively "free" boost to retirement saving that is easy to underestimate.

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