Auto-enrolment
What it really means
The law that means employers must automatically put eligible staff into a workplace pension and pay in on their behalf. You are enrolled without doing anything; you can opt out within a set window if you really want to.
Context, tips & common mistakes
Enrolment depends on age and earnings thresholds, so part-timers and low earners sometimes are not auto-enrolled but can usually opt in and still receive employer contributions — worth doing if you can afford it. If you do opt out, there is a short window (typically a month) in which contributions already taken are refunded; after that, the money stays invested in your pot until retirement rather than coming back to you. Opting out is also not permanent: the law makes employers re-enrol eligible staff roughly every three years, so being put back in years later is compliance, not an error.
The contribution percentages you see on your payslip are minimums — many employers match higher contributions if you raise yours, which is the cheapest pension upgrade available. Deductions should start appearing on your payslip from enrolment; a payslip that never mentions pension despite your eligibility is a question for payroll.