What is certification and when is it required? The process of determining whether a pension scheme satisfies the test scheme standard for auto-enrolment purposes is referred to as certification. For defined benefit schemes (or the defined benefit element of hybrid schemes), an employer can: • certify that the scheme (or defined benefit element of a hybrid scheme) satisfies the test scheme standard for the purposes of its enrolment duties, or • delegate the certification of the scheme to the actuary in certain circumstances There are also certain circumstances in which the actuary must certify the scheme. For further information on the test scheme standard for defined benefit schemes, see 'Defined benefit occupational pension schemes' in Practice Note: Auto-enrolment—what types of scheme may be used? Note that hybrid schemes are defined, for the purposes of auto-enrolment only, as schemes that are neither wholly money purchase nor wholly defined benefit. They generally have elements of both types of benefits and, depending on the type of scheme involved, they may need to satisfy a combination of the defined benefits

FORTHCOMING DEVELOPMENT: Section 10 of the Finance Act 2022 will increase the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) from 55 to 57 on 6 April 2028 (save for members of the firefighters, police and armed forces public service pension schemes). The Finance Act 2022 will also give members of registered pension schemes a right to take their benefits before age 57, if on or before 4 November 2021 they either had an ‘unqualified right’ to take benefits or were in the process of a substantive transfer to a scheme offering an unqualified right to a protected pension age of less than 57 on or before 4 November 2021. To benefit from this new 2028 protection, the rules of the pension scheme must have included (on 11 February 2021) an unqualified right to take the entitlement to scheme benefits before age 57. For further information, see Practice Note: Increasing the normal minimum pension age (NMPA) to 57—pensions impact. When should certification be used? Certification has been designed primarily to cater for employers with

The auto-enrolment duty • Since 1 October 2012 onwards, employers have had to do the following on reaching their staging date (ie the date from which the auto-enrolment duty applies to them): ◦ enrol eligible jobholders into a qualifying pension scheme automatically ◦ allow eligible jobholders to opt out of the scheme ◦ pay a minimum level of contributions to the scheme on behalf of eligible jobholders, and ◦ re-enrol eligible jobholders (broadly) every three years • In preparation for this, employers will have had to identify: ◦ their ‘staging date’ ◦ which

FORTHCOMING CHANGE : On 16 September 2025, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) launched a consultation on a revised enforcement strategy, marking a shift towards more proactive and prudential regulation. The revised draft enforcement strategy introduces a framework built around four key outcomes: prevention, reparation, accountability, and saver confidence supported by five strategic objectives focused on targeting key risks to savers, acting decisively against non-compliance and economic crime, using data to drive smarter enforcement, collaborating across the sector for greater impact, and enhancing transparency to build trust and improve conduct. The draft enforcement strategy aims to enhance TPR's ability to address emerging risks and non-compliance in the pensions sector through a more agile and collaborative approach. While TPR intended to publish the final strategy and consultation response in early 2026, these documents have yet to be published. Later on, TPR is expected to review its full suite of published policies following the strategy's implementation to ensure alignment, which may result in further consultations on any necessary changes. For further information, see: Consultation tracker—pensions. The Pensions Regulator's compliance and enforcement

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES ONLY TO PENSION SCHEMES IN ENGLAND AND WALES This Practice Note has been archived. It explains the steps employers should have taken to prepare for auto-enrolment in advance of their staging date. This included identifying their staging date, reviewing their workforce, reviewing their current pension arrangements and benefit design, putting key support structures in place and planning communications with workers. The auto-enrolment regime, established under the Pensions Act 2008, Part 1, imposes a duty on employers to make arrangements for the auto-enrolment of all of their ‘eligible jobholders’ into a ‘qualifying scheme’, being a scheme which satisfies statutory criteria. The obligation to comply with the auto-enrolment duty was introduced in stages, the largest employers having been required to comply from 1 October 2012. The date on which an employer had to implement the new regime was called its ‘staging date’ (all the staging dates for existing employers have now passed). Employers were encouraged to consider how they were going to implement auto-enrolment and begin taking steps to prepare for

The auto-enrolment regime requires employers to provide information to: • different categories of workers and trustees (or managers) of relevant schemes in accordance with the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/772 (the Auto Enrolment Regs) • the Pensions Regulator in accordance with the Employers' Duties (Registration and Compliance) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/5 (the Registration Regs) Note that following consultation, and as a result of the decision to extend the joining window, changes were made to the auto-enrolment legislation with effect from 1 April 2014: • to extend the deadline for disclosure of information from one month to six weeks • to extend the deadline for registration with the Pensions Regulator from four months to five months (see Disclosure obligations towards the Pensions Regulator below), and • where an employer has to make arrangements to re-enrol workers automatically every three years, to extend the deadline for re-registration with the Pensions Regulator from one month to two months (see Disclosure obligations towards the Pensions Regulator below) Further changes were made to the information requirements

The quality requirements for hybrid schemes Hybrid schemes are schemes which provide both defined benefits and money purchase benefits. Special rules apply to hybrid schemes in relation to meeting the requirements for a qualifying scheme under the auto-enrolment legislation (the quality requirements). Those rules are based on the quality requirements for defined benefit schemes and money purchase schemes. For further information on the quality requirements for defined benefit schemes and money purchase schemes (also referred to as defined contribution schemes), see Practice Note: Auto-enrolment—what types of scheme may be used? A hybrid scheme that has its main administration in the UK will satisfy the quality requirement in relation to a jobholder if it satisfies the requirements of whichever is the appropriate of: • the quality requirements for a money purchase scheme (under the Pensions Act 2008, s 20 (PenA 2008)), subject to any prescribed modifications • the quality requirements for a defined benefits scheme (under the PenA 2008, ss 21–23—also known as the test scheme standard), subject to any prescribed modifications, or • a combination

Jobholders have a statutory right to opt out of a scheme into which they have been enrolled by completing a valid opt-out notice and submitting it to their employer within a limited period. If a jobholder submits a valid opt-out notice, they are treated as if they had never been a member of the scheme. The Pensions Regulator has issued guidance explaining the opt-out process, including who can opt out, the timescales involved and the process an employer must follow when they receive an opt-out notice. Who can opt out? The right to opt out is available to eligible and non-eligible jobholders. Eligible jobholders can choose to opt out after they have been enrolled (or re-enrolled) automatically into an automatic enrolment scheme. Non-eligible jobholders who have opted in to an automatic enrolment scheme can choose to opt out after they have been enrolled into the scheme. An employer has no right to opt out on behalf of jobholders. An employer who impersonated temporary workers to opt them out illegally was prosecuted by the Pension Regulator and eventually received

An employer can postpone the date on which the auto-enrolment obligations would otherwise apply to an eligible jobholder by up to three months. The date to which an employer chooses to postpone its auto-enrolment obligations is called the 'deferral date'. Postponement of the auto-enrolment date imposes, in effect, a membership waiting period. The decision of whether to postpone auto-enrolment is optional for the employer. If the employer wishes to use postponement, it must give notice to the relevant workers (known as a 'postponement notice'). The Pensions Regulator has issued guidance to assist employers who wish to use postponement, and has also issued a letter template that employers can use for the postponement notice. Note that following consultation and with effect from 1 April 2017, the government extended to new employers the ability to postpone auto-enrolment for up to three months, a new employer being either: • an employer who pays Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) income and for whom the first worker begins to be employed on or after 1 October 2017, or • an employer who does not have a PAYE scheme

The auto-enrolment regime requires certain records to be: • kept in relation to workers and qualifying schemes for a set period • provided to the Pensions Regulator on request The aim is to enable employers to prove that they have complied with their auto-enrolment obligations but also to help them: • avoid or resolve potential disputes with employees • check or reconcile contributions made to a scheme • ensure the effective and efficient running of the scheme The Pensions Regulator has issued guidance that provides a summary of the record-keeping requirements under the auto-enrolment regime. Trustees, managers and pension scheme providers (as well as employers that administer a pension scheme) should also familiarise themselves with the Pension Regulator's good practice guidance on record-keeping in general. Who must keep records? The persons who must keep records are: • an employer • a trustee or manager of an occupational pension scheme • a provider of a personal pension scheme An employer may authorise a third party (eg a third-party administrator) to keep, preserve or provide records on their

ARCHIVED : This archived Practice Note looks at the Pensions Regulator’s quarterly auto-enrolment compliance and enforcement bulletins up to June 2020. It provides a short summary of each quarterly bulletin over that period, the enforcement action taken and the key messages for employers in relation to auto-enrolment. It is not maintained and is for historical information only. For further information on the Pensions Regulator’s auto-enrolment compliance and enforcement regime, see Practice Note: Auto-enrolment—compliance and enforcement. The Pensions Regulator issues quarterly compliance and enforcement bulletins on auto-enrolment in order to: • provide information about its cases and the powers it has used under the auto-enrolment regime, and • help employers, their advisers and the pensions industry as a whole understand the type of compliance and enforcement interventions that follows its educational and enabling communications and support The first quarterly bulletin was published in July 2014 and covered the period from 1 April 2014 to 30 June 2014. The Pensions Regulator has already amply demonstrated its willingness to exercise

ARCHIVED. This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. As well as the option to postpone auto-enrolment, employers which operate defined benefit or hybrid schemes may choose to delay the implementation of auto-enrolment for eligible jobholders until 30 September 2017 (called the transitional period) if certain conditions are satisfied. If the employer delays auto-enrolment for the transitional period in respect of eligible jobholders (and chooses not to apply a postponement period of up to three months following the end of that period), the auto-enrolment obligations will apply: • on the day after the end of the transitional period (ie 1 October 2017), or • if earlier, on the day after the date on which the transitional period ceases to apply (ie because one of the conditions is no longer satisfied) If the employer applies a postponement period following the end of the transitional period, the auto-enrolment obligations will apply on the deferral date. Note that an eligible jobholder who is not already an active member of