Automatic-enrolment worker categories

The category gives you the next action

Automatic-enrolment worker categories turn an assessment into an employer duty. An eligible jobholder normally has to be automatically enrolled. A non-eligible jobholder is not automatically enrolled but can require the employer to enrol them. An entitled worker can require the employer to arrange pension membership, although the contribution duty is different.

These are pension-law categories, not job titles or permanent labels. “Employee”, “worker” and “contractor” describe wider employment relationships. The pension assessment starts by deciding whether the individual is a worker for these duties, then considers where they work, their age and the qualifying earnings payable in the relevant pay period.

The Pensions Regulator's workforce guide sets out the categories and the action attached to each one.

Assess the facts at the right time

Run the assessment when the duties first apply and again when an event can change the result. Common triggers include a new starter, a birthday, a change in earnings and the end of postponement. Variable pay means the same person may not remain in the same category for every pay period.

Use the current age and earnings criteria from The Pensions Regulator rather than copying annual thresholds into an employment contract or evergreen policy. Its assessment guidance explains the pay-reference-period test and the points at which it must be made.

Keep the result explainable

Record the assessment date, the pay reference period, the inputs used and the resulting category. Then connect that result to the action taken: enrolment, information about opting in or joining, or a later reassessment.

Do not let payroll output become the only evidence. If a category is challenged, the employer should be able to show why the person fell into it on that date and which current criteria were applied.