UK auto-enrolment pension: employer 3%, you 5%, on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 16 Oct 2026.UK automatic enrolment needs at least 8% of qualifying earnings, the part of your pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year, with at least 3% from your employer. On £30,000 a year that is £23,760: £712.80 from your employer and £1,188 from you, of which £237.60 is tax relief.
2026-27 · Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 16 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Type your gross pay before tax and choose whether it is a year, a month, 4 weeks or a week.
Keep the 3% employer and 5% employee minimums, or type your scheme’s percentages.
Choose qualifying earnings or all pay, and relief at source or net pay, as your scheme uses.
Read what you pay, what your employer adds, the tax relief and the total each payday and each year.
Every employer in the UK must offer a workplace pension and enrol eligible staff automatically. This calculator shows what goes in each payday under the legal minimums or your own scheme's percentages, following the GOV.UK workplace pensions guide and The Pensions Regulator's thresholds for 2026-27.
Who is enrolled. Workers aged between 22 and State Pension age who earn at least £10,000 a year and usually work in the UK are enrolled automatically. If you earn more than £6,240 a year you can ask to join and your employer must then pay in; at or below that you can join, but the employer does not have to contribute.
What is paid. The minimum total is 8%, of which at least 3% comes from your employer. Most schemes apply it to qualifying earnings: the part of your pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year, or £520 to £4,189 a month, £480 to £3,867 over 4 weeks and £120 to £967 a week. Some schemes use all of your pay instead; choose that under Scheme rules.
Tax relief. Under relief at source your 5% is taken after tax and the provider adds a fifth of it, so you pay 4% from your pay. GOV.UK's example: you put in £40, your employer £30 and tax relief £10, so £80 goes in. Under net pay your contribution is taken before tax, so the relief is the income tax you do not pay, at your own rate.
What counts as pay. Salary or wages, bonuses, commission, overtime and statutory sick, maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, bereavement and neonatal care pay.
Not included. Salary sacrifice, defined benefit schemes, higher-rate relief you claim back from HMRC and any postponement of your enrolment. An estimate, not financial advice.
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Under automatic enrolment the legal minimum is 8% of qualifying earnings: at least 3% from your employer and the rest, normally 5%, from you, including tax relief. An employer may pay more so that you pay less, as long as the 8% total is met.
Qualifying earnings are the part of your pay between £6,240 and £50,270 a year before tax, the same thresholds as 2025-26. On £30,000 a year that is £23,760, so the minimums are £712.80 from your employer and £1,188 from you, £1,900.80 in total.
Your employer must enrol you automatically if you are a worker aged between 22 and State Pension age, earn at least £10,000 a year (£833 a month, £192 a week) and usually work in the UK. Below that you can still ask to join, and your employer cannot refuse.
Yes, if you choose to join and earn more than £6,240 a year (£520 a month, £120 a week, £480 over 4 weeks): the employer must then pay the minimum. At or below those amounts you can still join, but the employer does not have to contribute anything.
Under relief at source your contribution is taken after tax and your provider adds basic-rate relief, so of a 5% contribution you pay 4% and 1% is added. Under net pay the contribution is taken before tax, so you get relief at your own rate through paying less income tax.
Yes. Some schemes take contributions on all earnings rather than only the band between £6,240 and £50,270. Your employer chooses the basis and must still meet the legal minimum. Pick All pay in this calculator if your scheme works that way; your payslip or scheme booklet will say.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about UK Workplace Pension Calculator and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
Same job, other tools: SSP Daily Rate Calculator – SSP per day for 1 to 7 qualifying days a week, rounded up to the penny like HMRC · National Living Wage Calculator – The National Living Wage from April 2026 is £12.71 an hour at 21 and over: check your pay · Scotland Income Tax Calculator – Scottish income tax for 2026-27 across all six bands, with National Insurance · Redundancy Pay Calculator Northern Ireland – Northern Ireland redundancy pay: the same age bands, a £783 weekly cap, up to £23,490.
On the related tools: Postgraduate Loan Repayment Calculator (UK) – UK Postgraduate Loan repayments: 6% of pay over £21,000 a year (£1,750 a month).
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