Auto Enrolment Calculator
Work out workplace pension contributions for 2026/27. Contributions run on qualifying earnings, the band between £6,240.00 and £50,270.00, which is why the total is never 8% of the salary.
Thresholds last checked 11 September 2026 · Tax year 2026/27
Auto enrolment contributions run on a band, not a salary #
This is the thing that generates most of the complaints, and almost none of them are justified. The minimum contribution is 8%, but it is 8% of qualifying earnings: the slice of pay between £6,240.00 and £50,270.00.
Everything below £6,240.00 carries no contribution. Everything above £50,270.00 carries none either. On a £20,000.00 salary the qualifying earnings are £13,760.00, so the total is about £1,100.80 rather than the £1,600.00 that 8% of the salary would suggest.
An employer can choose to calculate on full pay instead, and some do. It is more generous and it is allowed, but it is not the default and it is not the legal minimum.
Auto enrolment thresholds for 2026/27 #
| Threshold | Figure | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Earnings trigger | £10,000.00 | Earn above this and you must be enrolled automatically |
| Qualifying earnings, lower limit | £6,240.00 | Contributions start above this, not from the first pound |
| Qualifying earnings, upper limit | £50,270.00 | Contributions stop above this |
All three were held at their 2025/26 levels, so nothing moved this year. That is itself worth knowing: because the thresholds are frozen while wages rise, the proportion of pay going into pensions drifts upward slightly every year without any rule changing.
Auto enrolment pension rates, contributions and the staging date #
This auto enrolment pension calculator applies the statutory minimums. The auto enrolment pension rates and auto enrolment pension contributions are the same thing described two ways: 8% of qualifying earnings in total, split 3% employer and 5% worker. The auto enrolment pension threshold figures are the band those percentages apply to.
The auto enrolment staging date is a term left over from the original rollout, when existing employers were phased in by size between 2012 and 2018. That phasing is finished. A new employer today has no staging date: duties begin on the day the first worker is employed. Anything telling you to look up your staging date is describing a system that no longer operates.
The minimum split #
| Who | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Employer | 3% |
| Worker | 5% |
| Total | 8% |
Auto enrolment employer contributions are a floor rather than a target: plenty of employers pay above 3% as a benefit. The worker's 5% includes tax relief, so the amount actually leaving their pay is less than the headline figure. The employer can pay more than 3%, and where it does, the worker's share can fall as long as the total stays at 8%. What cannot happen is the employer paying under 3%.
Who has to be enrolled #
Workers aged 22 to State Pension age, earning above £10,000.00 a year, who are not already in a qualifying scheme. They go in automatically and have to opt out if they do not want it.
Below that, two other groups have rights rather than automatic entry. Someone earning above £6,240.00 but below the trigger can ask to join and the employer must contribute. Someone earning below £6,240.00 can ask to join, but the employer does not have to put anything in. Both still have to be told about their rights in writing.
Auto enrolment rules for a small employer #
The Pensions Regulator publishes the full auto enrolment guidance, but the short version is this. Duties start the day the first worker is employed, not at some later review date. From that point an employer has to assess every worker, enrol whoever qualifies, write to all of them, deduct and pay contributions on time, and complete a declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator.
Re-enrolment comes round roughly every three years: anyone who opted out goes back in and has to opt out again. It is easy to miss because nothing prompts it in the normal payroll cycle.
A company with a single director and no other staff generally has no duties at all, but it still has to tell The Pensions Regulator that it is exempt rather than simply ignoring the letters. Adding a second person to the payroll ends the exemption straight away. Setting up that payroll produces two reference numbers, which are covered in the PAYE reference guide.
Opting out, and why most people should not #
Auto enrolment opt out is the worker's decision, never the employer's. Enrolment is automatic but membership is not compulsory. A worker can opt out, and if they do so within the opt-out window they get back everything deducted, as though they had never joined. Leave it later than that and contributions already made normally stay in the pension until retirement.
What opting out actually costs is larger than the payslip suggests, because you are not just declining your own 5%. You are also declining the employer's 3%, which is pay you have earned and will not be given in cash instead, and the tax relief on top. Turning down roughly 60p of employer money for every pound you keep is a poor trade for most people.
An employer must not encourage or induce anyone to opt out. Doing so is a breach of the rules with real consequences, and the opt-out has to come from the worker through the pension provider rather than through the employer.
Re-enrolment, every three years #
This is the duty small employers miss most often. Roughly every three years, everyone who opted out has to be put back in, and has to opt out again if they still want to. It is deliberate: it catches people who declined when they were 23 and short of money and have never thought about it since.
Nothing in the payroll cycle prompts it. The employer picks a re-enrolment date, assesses staff again, enrols whoever qualifies, and files another declaration of compliance. Missing the declaration is itself a breach, even where no worker needed re-enrolling.
What this calculator does not cover #
It works on the qualifying earnings basis and an annual salary. It does not handle the certified alternative bases some employers use, salary sacrifice arrangements, pay periods other than annual, postponement, or workers who join or leave part way through a year. It also assumes the worker has not opted out.
Common questions #
How are auto enrolment contributions calculated?
On qualifying earnings, which is the band between £6,240 and £50,270, not on the whole salary. The minimum total is 8%, made up of at least 3% from the employer and 5% from the worker.
What are the auto enrolment thresholds for 2026/27?
The earnings trigger is £10,000. The qualifying earnings band runs from £6,240 to £50,270. All three were held at their 2025/26 levels.
Why is my pension contribution less than 8% of my salary?
Because the 8% is charged on qualifying earnings, not on gross pay. The first £6,240 of salary carries no contribution at all. On a £20,000 salary the total is about £1,101, not £1,600.
Who has to be automatically enrolled?
Workers aged 22 to State Pension age earning more than £10,000 a year who are not already in a qualifying scheme. Workers outside that who earn above the lower limit can ask to join and must still get an employer contribution.
Does the £6,240 figure have anything to do with National Insurance?
No, and the similarity causes real confusion. £6,240 is the auto enrolment lower limit. The National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit is a different figure entirely. Two numbers, both called a lower limit, both used in the same payroll run.
Can an employer pay more than the minimum?
Yes. The employer can pay the whole 8% if it wants, and many pay more than 3% as a benefit. What the employer cannot do is pay less than 3% or let the total fall below 8%.
Do sole directors need auto enrolment?
Usually not. A company with a single director and no other employees generally has no auto enrolment duties, though it still has to tell The Pensions Regulator that. Taking on a second person on payroll changes that immediately.