MyEDC

    Pension Auto Enrollment

    In a move to encourage greater long-term saving by individuals towards their retirement, new legislation (The Pensions Act 2008) requires the Council to automatically enrol people into a pension scheme if they are not already in one and where they meet certain criteria. 

    The aim is to help more people have another income, in addition to their State Pension, when they retire. The UK is not the first country to introduce a scheme of this kind. Similar arrangements operate in a number of other countries (e.g. Norway and New Zealand).

    Auto enrolment is the Government's aim to help people save more for their retirement and as such, every employer must automatically enrol workers into a workplace pension scheme if they meet the following criteria:

    • Are aged between 22 and State Pension age
    • Earn more than £10,000 a year
    • Work in the UK.

    In 2013 East Dunbartonshire Council began to auto enrol employees who met the above criteria into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or Scottish Teachers Superannuation Scheme (STSS).

    Auto Re-enrolment takes place three years after the initial enrolment, and workers will be re-enrolled into a workplace pension scheme subject to the criteria above, and if they have already had an automatic enrolment date with EDC. The payrun deadline for assessing auto re-enrolment is the first full-pay period after 1 January 2026 based on period start date.

    The Council will be writing to employees if they meet the criteria above, and also to employees who do not meet this criteria but who may wish to opt-in and pay contributions. This correspondence will explain the changes in more detail and advise what action is required, if any.

    For all employees who are currently active members of one of pension schemes, the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS), there will be no change and no action will be required.