Auto Enrolment Extended To Workers Aged 18 And Over
Please note this blog post was published over 12 months ago and so may not include the most up-to-date information, for example where regulation around investing has changed.
We are delighted to see that Auto Enrolment is being extended by the Government to every worker aged 18 or over. Previously, the qualifying age had been 22. Around 900,000 more people are going to be brought into a workplace Pension as part of this change. The package of reforms means that £800 million of contributions will be added, and the lower earnings limit of £5,824 will be scrapped.
The Government are hoping to implement this change by the mid-2020’s. Work And Pensions Secretary David Gauke has said that the changes will help to get more people into the habit of saving.
However, the government has been accused of breaking a manifesto pledge on Auto Enrolment for the self-employed. Rather than extending Auto Enrolment to these workers, the Government will use ‘targeted interventions’ to encourage Pension saving.
A press release from the Department For Work and Pensions said, “The government [is] testing a series of “targeted interventions” – including through opportunities to work with organisations who act as “touch points” for the 4.8 million self-employed people, such as banks and those who contract labour – to explore how technology can be used to increase their pension saving.”
You can read the Department for Work and Pensions Automatic Enrolment review here.
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