Pension auto-enrolment: minimum employer contribution

The least an employer must pay into an automatic-enrolment pension, as a share of qualifying earnings.

Corroborated Act of Parliament Great Britain in force since 2019-04-06

Checked against its sources: statute verified 2026-09-21·guidance verified 2026-09-21

Scope: The percentage has stood in s.20(1)(b) since enactment; the lower transitional percentages under s.29 ran out on 5 April 2019. From 29 April 2026 the Pension Schemes Act 2026 confines s.20(1) to schemes that are not relevant Master Trusts and adds s.20(1A) for those that are, applying the same conditions. The jobholder's 5% on GOV.UK's table is the difference between this and the 8% total, not a stated statutory figure.

Current sources

Source A · LegislationPensions Act 2008, c. 30 s. 20(1)(b) ("the employer's contribution, however calculated, must be equal to or more than 3% of the amount of the jobholder's qualifying earnings in the relevant pay reference period")

retrieved 2026-09-08

Source B · Official guidancehttps://www.gov.uk/api/content/workplace-pensions/what-you-your-employer-and-the-government-pay (table "Date | The minimum your employer pays | You pay | Total minimum contribution": "From April 2019 | 3% | 5% | 8%")

retrieved 2026-09-08

History

Value	From	To	Status	Sources
3%	2019-04-06	—	Corroborated	Legislation: Pensions Act 2008, c. 30 s. 20(1)(b) ("the employer's contribution, however calculated, must be equal to or more than 3% of the amount of the jobholder's qualifying earnings in the relevant pay reference period") retrieved 2026-09-08 Official guidance: https://www.gov.uk/api/content/workplace-pensions/what-you-your-employer-and-the-government-pay (table "Date \| The minimum your employer pays \| You pay \| Total minimum contribution": "From April 2019 \| 3% \| 5% \| 8%") retrieved 2026-09-08

Receipt

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Figure ID: employment.pension.ae.min_employer_contribution
Name in the API: Automatic enrolment: minimum employer contribution
Record fields (source type · unit · jurisdiction · status): act·percent·GB·corroborated
Record hash (canonical JSON, SHA-256): sha256:e4de07d34e316562a7840e2ae95eb8db53b6ed56a698578969647d6c821add20
Source snapshots (SHA-256): Legislation: sha256:e4ee6dd17077e90e9f0e51b9ac4fcdb75fb153d0a267a0cdd5f3f767da888b44; Official guidance: sha256:e7d557eebb699499c1b977345e69e3f30145a31c91d26b4df6b47e49d70aa743
Listed in the signed manifest: release 3.0.0 manifest · record_hashes["employment.pension.ae.min_employer_contribution"]
Machine-readable record: /v1/figures/employment.pension.ae.min_employer_contribution · current only: /v1/figures/employment.pension.ae.min_employer_contribution/current

Compiler's notes

An act carry: s.20(1)(b) states the percentage. The 29.4.2026 insertion sits in the subsection's opening words inside an inline wrapper that does not contain paragraph (b).