DWP: Auto-enrolment threshold to be £7,475; No exemption for small firms

Automatic enrolment into workplace pension schemes will only apply when a person earns more than £7,475 per year, a government review has concluded.

The earnings band, in line with the income tax threshold set to be introduced next April, is considerably higher than the previously proposed level of £5,035. Every UK business, regardless of its size, should be made to offer a company pension scheme, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) also concludes. It says employers should be given a 13-week grace period before staff are automatically enrolled, to ease the burden on companies employing large numbers of temporary workers. The report concludes the change will see some ten million people automatically enrolled, and estimate...