Following the Government's announcement late last year, that small businesses would be given extra time to prepare for auto-enrolment, a new timetable has now been released.

Companies employing 250+ individuals will not see any change to their staging date.

"Automatic enrolment will begin on time this October, taking up to 10 million people into pension saving - many for the first time ever, and all employers will be part of it" said pensions minister Steve Webb.
"We have done all we can to ease any burden on business the reforms will bring and employers of all sizes now know the date they need to start enrolling their staff."

The UK's largest employers will be expected to lead the way this October as scheduled, followed by medium sized employers and ultimately small companies. All existing companies, regardless of size will have to have introduced auto-enrolment by April 2017, with any new companies by February 2018. The new timescale means that 70 per cent of individuals will have been automatically enrolled by the next general election.

The level of pension contributions will be phased in over time to help employers and individuals adjust. Full contributions will have to be paid from 1 October 2018.

The table below sets out the revised automatic enrolment dates for all employer sizes.