Does a charity with one employee have auto-enrolment duties?

Yes. Every UK employer, regardless of size or sector, has duties from the date the first worker is employed. If the worker meets the age and earnings thresholds, they must be enrolled into a qualifying scheme. If not, they still have a right to opt in, and the employer must run the assessment each pay reference period.

What is the minimum contribution we have to pay?

For 2026, the statutory minimum total contribution is 8 percent of qualifying earnings, with at least 3 percent paid by the employer. Many charities pay more (typically 5 to 8 percent employer) as part of a reward package, but 3 percent is the legal floor.

What is re-enrolment and how often does it happen?

Every three years from the staging or duties start date, the employer must re-enrol any eligible workers who previously opted out and complete a re-declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator. Missing this is the most common compliance failure for small charities.

Do trustees count as employees for auto-enrolment?

Generally no. Unpaid trustees are office holders, not workers, and fall outside auto-enrolment. Paid staff who also serve as trustees are workers in their employed capacity and fall within the rules in the normal way.

Pension Auto-Enrolment For Small UK Charities: A Guide

Pension auto-enrolment is one of those compliance areas where small UK charities either over-pay an adviser or quietly fall out of compliance. The duties, the typical costs, and the working setup that takes about half a day to get right.

Auto-enrolment is one of the few compliance areas where a small UK charity can either over-pay an adviser to handle something straightforward, or quietly fall out of compliance and discover the gap only when a former employee complains to The Pensions Regulator. Most charities under fifty staff land somewhere on that spectrum without ever meaning to. The good news is the rules are tractable and the working setup takes about half a day to get right.

The four duties that apply to every employer

Assess your workforce at each pay reference period to identify eligible jobholders.
Enrol eligible jobholders into a qualifying pension scheme automatically.
Pay at least the statutory minimum contribution and deduct the worker contribution from pay.
Communicate with workers about their rights, and re-declare compliance every three years.

These duties exist from the date the first worker is employed. There is no exemption for charities, no exemption for one-person employers, and no exemption for fixed-term staff. Volunteers and unpaid trustees are out of scope; paid workers, freelancers paid through payroll, and casual staff who meet the thresholds are in.

Who counts as an eligible jobholder

For 2026, an eligible jobholder is a worker aged between 22 and state pension age earning above the auto-enrolment trigger (10,000 pounds a year, pro-rated by pay period). Workers below that earnings threshold or outside the age band have rights to opt in or to join, but do not need to be auto-enrolled.

In practice, most small-charity payroll software (Sage, Xero, BrightPay, IRIS) runs the assessment automatically each pay run and flags new eligible jobholders for enrolment. Confirm the assessment is switched on and that the categorisation report is reviewed at month-end by whoever owns payroll.

Choosing a scheme: keep it boring

For small charities, the default sensible choice is one of the three master trust providers used by the bulk of UK employers:

NEST: free for employers, set up specifically for auto-enrolment, slightly clunkier interface but reliable.
The People Pension: low employer cost, broad investment choice.
Smart Pension: modern interface, integrates well with most cloud payroll systems.

All three are qualifying schemes under the rules. Unless the charity already runs a generous defined-contribution scheme, picking one of these and integrating it with payroll is the right answer. Bespoke advice on scheme selection rarely justifies the fee for a workforce of under fifty.

Contributions: the 8 percent number explained

The statutory minimum total contribution is 8 percent of qualifying earnings, of which at least 3 percent must come from the employer. Qualifying earnings for 2026 are gross pay between the lower (6,240 pounds) and upper (50,270 pounds) thresholds. Many employers pay more than 3 percent as employer (5 to 8 percent is common in the charity sector) and reduce the worker contribution accordingly.

Calculating contributions on full pay rather than qualifying earnings. The difference matters when a worker earns close to the lower threshold or above the upper one. Confirm your payroll system is set to qualifying earnings, not total pay, unless you have deliberately chosen a higher base.

Declaration of compliance and the three-year cycle

Within five months of duties starting, the employer must complete a declaration of compliance with The Pensions Regulator. This is a short online form that confirms the scheme, contribution rates, and number of workers enrolled.

Every three years from the duties start date, the employer must run a re-enrolment exercise: re-assess workers who opted out, re-enrol any who are still eligible, and complete a re-declaration of compliance. Missing re-enrolment is the single most common compliance failure for small charities. Put it in the operations calendar the day the original declaration is filed.

The half-day setup that works for most small charities

Morning task 1: choose and open the scheme

Open an employer account with NEST, The People Pension or Smart Pension. Provide PAYE reference, contact details, and chosen contribution rates. This takes about 30 minutes.

Morning task 2: integrate with payroll

In your payroll software, enable the auto-enrolment module and link it to the scheme. Most systems have a one-click integration for the three master trusts. Run a test payroll to confirm the assessment, deductions and pension file output are correct.

Afternoon task: communicate and document

Send the statutory worker letters to all current staff (templates are provided by the scheme and by The Pensions Regulator). File copies. Complete the declaration of compliance. Add the re-enrolment date to the operations calendar with a 90-day reminder.

Auto-enrolment is one of the rare compliance areas where the right answer for a small charity is also the cheap, fast answer. Default scheme, integrated payroll, calendar reminder. Done.

When to bring in an adviser

For most small charities, ongoing adviser fees on auto-enrolment add little value. Bring in an adviser only at three trigger points: setting up an enhanced scheme above the statutory minimum, a TUPE transfer involving inherited pension obligations, or a workforce restructure that materially changes who is in scope. Outside those moments, the master trust, the payroll software and an annual review are enough.

Pension auto-enrolment is not where small charities should spend money on consultants. It is where they should spend half a day on setup and 30 minutes a quarter on review.