Workplace Pension Re-Enrolment: The 3-Year Cycle Employers Must Run (2026)
Every UK employer must re-enrol opted-out eligible staff into a workplace pension roughly every three years. Here's how the re-enrolment cycle works and what employees should expect.
Why re-enrolment exists
Automatic enrolment is designed to overcome inertia — most people, once enrolled into a workplace pension, stay enrolled, even though a meaningful minority opt out shortly after joining. Re-enrolment closes the gap for people who opted out once but whose circumstances (or the value of the employer contribution) may have changed since. Rather than leaving these employees permanently outside the pension system after a single opt-out decision years earlier, the law requires employers to periodically give them a fresh, automatic chance to save.
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Every employer with PAYE staff has an automatic enrolment staging date (or duties start date) from when auto-enrolment first applied to them. From that date, the employer must choose a re-enrolment date that falls within a six-month window: three months before to three months after the third anniversary of the staging date (or the previous re-enrolment date, for subsequent cycles).
| Cycle event | Timing |
|---|---|
| Staging date (or duties start date) | Fixed, historic |
| First re-enrolment window | 3 months either side of the 3rd anniversary |
| Chosen re-enrolment date | Employer's choice within that window |
| Re-declaration of compliance deadline | Within 5 months of the re-enrolment date |
| Next re-enrolment window | 3 years after the previous re-enrolment date |
Employers cannot pick an arbitrary date — it must sit within the permitted window, and once chosen, it becomes the anchor for the next cycle three years later.
Who gets automatically re-enrolled
At the re-enrolment date, the employer must identify any employee who:
- Meets the standard eligibility criteria: aged between 22 and State Pension age, working in the UK, and earning more than £10,000 a year (the current earnings trigger), and
- Opted out, or ceased active membership, of the workplace pension more than 12 months before the re-enrolment date.
These employees must be put back into the pension scheme automatically, with contributions restarting from the re-enrolment date, exactly as if they were being auto-enrolled for the first time — including a fresh opt-out window if they choose to leave again.
Worked example
An employer's staging date was 1 September 2020. Their re-enrolment windows fall as follows:
| Cycle | Anniversary | Window | Employer's chosen date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st re-enrolment | 1 Sept 2023 | 1 June 2023 – 1 Dec 2023 | 1 September 2023 |
| 2nd re-enrolment | 1 Sept 2026 | 1 June 2026 – 1 Dec 2026 | To be confirmed |
An employee who opted out in January 2022 (more than 12 months before 1 September 2023) would have been automatically re-enrolled at the first cycle. If they opted out again in October 2023, they would be eligible again for automatic re-enrolment at the 2026 cycle, since October 2023 is more than 12 months before any date in the 2026 window.
Contribution rates on re-enrolment
Re-enrolment restarts contributions at the current statutory minimum rates — currently 8% total of qualifying earnings (band £6,240–£50,270), made up of at least 3% employer and 5% employee (including tax relief). If the employer's scheme normally offers a more generous match, that applies on re-enrolment too, exactly as for any other active member.
| Contribution | Minimum rate |
|---|---|
| Employer | 3% |
| Employee (including tax relief) | 5% |
| Total minimum | 8% |
What employees should do
If you're automatically re-enrolled and don't want to remain in the pension, you retain the same right to opt out as any newly enrolled employee — typically a one-month window from enrolment, after which any contributions already deducted are refunded in full through payroll. If you miss the opt-out window, you can still leave the scheme later, but contributions already paid generally cannot be refunded and instead remain invested until retirement.
Before opting out again, it's worth checking whether your circumstances have changed since you first left — a pay rise, a new job with better employer matching, or simply more years until retirement can all change the maths in favour of staying in.
Employer compliance obligations
Employers must:
- Identify all staff who meet the automatic re-enrolment criteria.
- Write to affected staff confirming they've been re-enrolled and explaining their right to opt out.
- Complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within 5 months of the chosen re-enrolment date, even if no staff needed re-enrolling.
Failure to complete the re-declaration, or to correctly identify eligible staff, can result in enforcement action and fines from The Pensions Regulator, in the same way as failures at initial staging.
Use our auto-enrolment calculator to check current contribution thresholds, and the pension calculator to see how restarting contributions after a gap affects your retirement pot.
Frequently asked questions
How often does pension re-enrolment happen?
Employers must run a re-enrolment exercise approximately every three years, choosing a re-enrolment date within a 6-month window around the third anniversary of their original automatic enrolment staging date (or the previous re-enrolment date).
Will I be automatically re-enrolled if I opted out?
Yes, if you meet the eligibility criteria (aged 22 to State Pension age, earning above £10,000 a year) and had opted out or ceased active membership more than 12 months before the re-enrolment date, your employer must automatically put you back into the pension scheme.
Can I opt out again after being re-enrolled?
Yes. Re-enrolment does not remove your right to opt out again — you simply need to complete the opt-out process again within the opt-out window, typically one month, to receive a full refund of contributions made since re-enrolment.
Does re-enrolment apply if I opted out very recently?
No. If you opted out or stopped contributing within the 12 months immediately before the re-enrolment date, your employer has discretion whether to re-enrol you at that cycle — many employers choose not to re-enrol very recent leavers to avoid an immediate second opt-out.
Do employers have to report re-enrolment to The Pensions Regulator?
Yes. Employers must complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator within 5 months of their chosen re-enrolment date, confirming they have met their re-enrolment duties.
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