Types of workplace pension arrangements

The auto-enrolment regime, which was introduced in October 2012, requires employers to enrol all eligible jobholders automatically into a qualifying pension scheme (and enrol all non-eligible jobholders who opt in) and to pay a minimum level of employer contributions on behalf of those jobholders. The duty was phased in gradually from 1 October 2012, and started with the largest employers. For further information, see Practice Note: Auto-enrolment—an introduction.

The obligation on employers to designate and facilitate access to a stakeholder pension scheme (as set out in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act (WRPA) 1999, s 3) ceased to apply from 1 October 2012, when the obligation to enrol workers automatically into a qualifying scheme came into effect (PenA 2008, ss 87, 148–9 and SI 2012/2480).

Whether to comply with legal obligations or out of a concern to offer a competitive benefit package to their workers or executives, employers will need to think about what types of pension benefits they will offer.