If you’ve opted out of your employer’s workplace pension scheme, or stopped paying contributions, you can re-join at a later date.
What’s in this guide
How can I re-join my employer’s scheme?
Have you opted out of your employer’s workplace pension scheme, or stopped paying contributions? Then your employer must re-enrol you back into the scheme at a later date.
This is usually every three years, if you’re an eligible jobholder at that time.
Eligible jobholders:
- are aged between 22 and State Pension Age
- earn over the earnings threshold (£10,000), and
- work, or ordinarily work, in the UK and have a contract of employment (so, not a self-employed contractor); or have a contract to provide work and/or services personally (so, can’t sub-contract to a third party).
Your employer will tell you the contributions you have to pay, and the options available to you.
Your employer must re-enrol you within three years because your circumstances might have changed, and a workplace pension might now be right for you.
If you’re not ready to re-join, you can opt out again.
If you don’t want to wait to be re-enrolled, you can ask to re-join.
You can ask at any time. But your employer only has to action a request to re-join once every 12 months.
This is because every time a member leaves or re-joins a scheme, there are administration costs for the employer. The 12-month measure is intended to limit these costs.
Your employer does not have to wait to enrol you and can re-enrol you after any request if they so choose.
Need more information on pensions?
Call us free on 0800 011 3797 or use our webchatOpens in a new window. One of our pension specialists will be happy to answer your questions.
Our help is impartial and free to use, whether that’s online or over the phone.
Opening times: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Closed on bank holidays.
How many times can I leave and re-join a scheme?
Your employer might choose to accept more than one request from you to re-join in a 12-month period. But you only have the right to re-join once in a 12-month period (if you’re eligible to re-join).
If you’re not an eligible jobholder, you can ask to re-join if you’re either:
- a non-eligible jobholder, or
- an entitled worker.
Did you know?
Entitled workers:
- Are aged between 16 and 74
- Earn less than the lower earnings amount (£6,240) and
- Work in the UK and have a contract of employment.
Your employer only has to action a request to re-join once every 12 months.
If you’re an entitled worker when you ask to re-join, you might join a different scheme to the one your employer uses for automatic enrolment. And your employer doesn’t have to pay contributions.
