Workplace pensions

Auto enrolment from day one: the October 2026 change

Updated 6 October 2026

From 6 October 2026 your employer has a new day one duty on workplace pensions. The government has confirmed that the Pensions Act 2024 reforms take effect this autumn, and the key change is simple. Most new workers no longer wait three months to be enrolled. They go straight into the workplace scheme from their first payslip, with both your contribution and the employer's contribution calculated from day one. Concretely, you get: Automatic enrolment into your employer's qualifying scheme from your first day at work. The employer minimum contribution of 3 per cent of qualifying earnings, paid from pay period one. Your minimum contribution of 5 per cent of qualifying earnings through salary sacrifice or smart scheme, also from pay period one. A right to opt out at any time, with a refund of your contributions within the statutory window. Written information about the scheme and the right to opt out handed to you before or at the start of employment. You can read the GOV.UK workplace pension guide and the Pensions Regulator's employer duties for the technical detail.

What changes from 6 October 2026 on pensions

The Pensions Act 2024 received Royal Assent earlier in this Parliament and the day one auto enrolment provisions are now confirmed to commence on 6 October 2026. The detail is set out in the Pensions Act 2024 explanatory notes.

Until that date, the standard rule is that a worker must be enrolled into a qualifying workplace scheme on the later of the start of employment or the first day of the next month, and the contributions need only begin once the worker has been enrolled. The transitional saving has been the three month waiting period that The Pensions Regulator currently lists.

From 6 October 2026 the waiting period goes. The duties become:

• Enrol eligible job holders into a qualifying scheme on the first day of employment.
• Pay the employer minimum contribution of 3 per cent of qualifying earnings from the first pay period.
• Deduct and pay the employee minimum contribution of 5 per cent of qualifying earnings from the first pay period.
• Provide the statutory information about the scheme and the right to opt out before or at the start of employment.

The qualifying earnings band itself, currently £6,240 to £50,270 a year at the 2025/26 figures, is reviewed annually by HMRC and will be re-stated for 2026/27 in due course. The band determines what counts as pensionable pay, not whether you are in scope of the duty.

Who is an eligible job holder from day one

You are an eligible job holder if you are aged at least 22 and under state pension age and you earn above the lower earnings threshold in a pay period. From 6 October 2026 the day one duty applies where you are an eligible job holder on day one of your job. The classification is set by the Pensions Regulator's worker categories guidance.

You are still classed as an entitled worker if you earn below the lower threshold. The change in October does not create a duty to enrol entitled workers, but it does require your employer to provide a stakeholder pension scheme you can ask to join.

The categories at a glance:

• Eligible job holder. Aged 22 to state pension age, earnings above the lower threshold. Auto enrolled from day one under the new rule.
• Non eligible job holder. Aged 22 to state pension age, earnings between the lower earnings threshold and the upper earnings limit, or aged 16 to 21 or over state pension age. You can opt in and the employer must contribute if you do.
• Entitled worker. Earns below the lower earnings threshold. The employer must provide access to a stakeholder scheme but does not have to contribute.

The new day one duty does not catch workers who fall outside the eligible job holder definition. If you are 21 and under, or over state pension age, the prior rules continue to apply unless you opt in and trigger employer contributions that way.

How the contributions are worked out on day one

The minimum contributions stay the same on paper. The 8 per cent total is split 3 per cent from the employer and 5 per cent from you. What changes is when the maths starts.

From 6 October 2026, the maths starts on pay period one. If you start work on a Monday and your first payday is the following Friday, both the 3 per cent employer contribution and your 5 per cent employee contribution are calculated on that first payslip's qualifying earnings. The GOV.UK contribution calculator is the practical way to check the numbers for your pay.

A worked example. You earn £30,000 a year and join a new employer on 1 October 2026. Your qualifying earnings for the first month, gross, are £2,500. The breakdown for the first payslip looks like this:

• Employer contribution: 3 per cent of £2,500, so £75.00 paid by your employer into the scheme.
• Your contribution: 5 per cent of £2,500, so £125.00 taken from your pay before tax under net pay arrangement or smart scheme.
• Total paid into the pension pot for the month: £200.00.
• Tax relief on your contribution: applied at source by the scheme administrator, so it does not reduce your take home further.

You will see two lines on your payslip. One for the employer contribution and one for the employee contribution. If either line is missing, raise it with payroll on day one of the next pay cycle. Under The Pensions Regulator's compliance framework, missed contributions are the most common breach reported by new starters.

The first payslip is also the moment the tax relief starts to add up. Most modern schemes use net pay or relief at source, so you do not need to claim through self assessment. The scheme administrator sends your contribution to the fund with the basic rate tax already added where applicable.

Can you opt out, and what happens to the money

Yes. Day one enrolment does not mean day one lock in. You can opt out at any time and the statutory refund window is one month from the date you are enrolled, or one month from the date of your first contribution, whichever is later. The detail is in the GOV.UK opt out guidance.

What happens to the money:

• Your contributions are refunded in full through payroll, with no tax charge.
• The employer's contributions stay in the scheme as a pot in your name. You do not lose them and you can ask to transfer them to another scheme.
• If you change your mind later, you can opt back in and the employer must re enrol you.

There is no deadline pressure. The Pensions Act 2024 and the existing opt out regulations give you a month to decide. The refund is processed on the next available payroll run after the scheme administrator confirms the opt out. The employer cannot pressure you to opt out or to stay opted out. The Pensions Regulator treats inducements to opt out as a notifiable breach.

Opting out is a personal money decision. It is not a right your employer can refuse to administer. If your employer refuses to process an opt out, that is a compliance issue and can be reported to The Pensions Regulator using the whistleblowing route for pension duties.

What to do if you start a new job after 6 October 2026 and you are not enrolled

Two checks to run on day one of your second pay period. First, look at your payslip for the lines marked pension contribution or workplace pension. Second, check the enrolment letter or email your employer should have sent on or before your first day.

If neither exists, you have a three step route:

1. Ask payroll in writing, by email, to confirm your auto enrolment status and the date the contributions started. Keep the email and any reply.
2. If the answer is that you are not yet enrolled, ask for the date the contributions will begin and a copy of the postponement notice if one has been issued. The Pensions Act 2024 does not preserve the old one month postponement for eligible job holders, so a postponement notice should not be in play for day one cases.
3. If the answer is unsatisfactory, raise a formal written grievance under your employer's policy, then escalate to The Pensions Regulator using the complain about an employer form if the issue is not fixed in the next pay cycle.

You can also ask the scheme provider to confirm in writing that the contributions have been received. The scheme provider is independent of your employer and is required to hold the contributions in a pot in your name from receipt.

What to do in the meantime

Between now and 6 October 2026, your new employer still has the old duties. The day of the change matters, not the date you read this. If you start a new job on or after 6 October 2026, the new rule applies. If you started a few weeks earlier, the old rule applies and you should have been enrolled no later than the start of the month after you started, with contributions from the first pay period after enrolment.

You can prepare in three practical ways. First, keep a copy of your payslips and the enrolment letter for the first three months. Second, check the scheme's annual statement once it arrives and confirm the contribution totals match your payslips. Third, if you are thinking of opting out, do not do it in the first month of a new job, when the refund window and the contribution cycle are still settling, and instead take the month to read the scheme's key features document.

Day one enrolment is now a real right. Use it, check the numbers, and tell payroll fast if a payslip is missing the line. The new duty is set out in the Pensions Act 2024 and the Pensions Regulator's day one guidance for employers.