HR & People
PAYE Registration: How to Register as an Employer
Learn when your company needs PAYE registration, how to register as an employer with HMRC and what to do before paying yourself or your first employee.
Workplace Pensions: What Employers Must Do
Understand workplace pension duties for UK employers, including automatic enrolment and minimum contributions.
By Callum Sommerton12 October 20263 min read
Hiring your first employee brings workplace pension responsibilities, even if you only employ one person. Under automatic enrolment, employers must put eligible staff into a suitable pension scheme and contribute towards it. Your duties normally start on the day your first employee begins work.
If your company only has directors, different rules can apply.
Who must you enrol?
You normally need to automatically enrol staff who:
Are aged 22 or over, but below State Pension age.
Earn more than £10,000 a year, assessed against the threshold for each pay period.
Normally work in the UK.
Staff outside these criteria may still have the right to join. Depending on their age and earnings, you may also need to contribute.
Having nobody eligible for automatic enrolment doesn’t mean you have no duties. You still need to assess staff, explain their rights and complete the required declaration.
How much must you contribute?
For most defined contribution schemes, the minimum is:
Employer: 3% of qualifying earnings.
Total: 8%, usually with the remaining 5% coming from the employee, including any applicable tax relief.
For 2026/27, qualifying earnings are generally earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 a year. Contributions aren’t necessarily calculated on the whole salary.
Your scheme may use a different earnings basis or require higher contributions. Check its rules when setting up payroll.
What do you need to do?
Assess your staff. Check their ages and earnings from your duties start date.
Choose a suitable scheme. If someone needs enrolling, use a scheme that meets automatic enrolment requirements.
Set up contributions through payroll. Arrange deductions and pay contributions to the pension provider on time.
Write to staff. Explain how the rules apply to them, normally within six weeks.
Declare your compliance. Submit a declaration to The Pensions Regulator within five months of your duties start date, even if nobody needed enrolling.
Pension setup sits alongside payroll. Our PAYE registration guide explains how to register as an employer.
What if you’re a solo founder or only have co-founders?
A sole director with no other staff generally has no automatic enrolment duties. If your company has several directors but no other staff, it generally has no duties if nobody has an employment contract.
If two or more directors have employment contracts, duties can apply. There is a special exception allowing the company to choose whether to automatically enrol eligible directors, but declaration and opt-in obligations can still apply.
Use The Pensions Regulator’s director guidance to check your position. If you’re exempt and receive a letter from the regulator, tell it that you’re not an employer for automatic enrolment purposes.
What happens after setup?
Keep assessing staff each payday, maintain records and deal with requests to join or opt out. You must not encourage employees to opt out. You’ll also need to carry out re-enrolment duties and submit a fresh declaration roughly every three years.
An accountant or payroll provider can help, but responsibility remains with your company. Our guide to when founders need an accountant explains where support can help.
