For very large employers and the employees working through them the first stage date for auto enrollment occurred on 1st October 2012.

This means that employers and employers have to pay into a pension fund although an employee does have an option to opt-out. Opting-out would not make sense as you would then be missing out on the tax relief and the employers contribution to your pension. That said in the age when every penny counts we are sure that some people will still not want to say their net take home pay fall.

If you are working through an Umbrella Company the majority will have to auto enroll between March 2013 and September 2013.

At PayMatters our auto enrollment date for Umbrella Company contractors working through us is 1st September 2013.