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Advisers will be familiar with the general rules on automatic enrolment into pensions starting in October 2012 but less publicity has been given to the special requirements for particular groups of employees.

There are five groups involved, which we will call youngsters, oldies, short-timers, part-timers and accidental jobholders.

Youngsters are employees under age 22. There is no requirement to automatically enrol them into a pension but they must get information giving them the right to opt in if they want to, including getting an employer contribution. Rather bizarrely, once they have done that, they then must be given the right to opt out.

As well as ensuring that correct processes are followed when youngsters start work, employers will also need to put in place arrangements to automatically enrol them when they reach age 22 if they have not already opted in.

Oldies are employees over state pension age. Unless they are over 75, when they are ineligible to pay into a pension, they must be given opt-in rights in the same way as the youngsters. Obviously, contributions will then stop immediately they reach 75 if they are still working then.

Short-timers are those on short-term contracts with the employer, including agency workers who are paid direct by the company. Where an employer has taken advantage of postponement of automatic enrolment for three months after an employee starts, these people may never become eligible to join a scheme.

Originally, the Government proposed that all those on contracts of less than three months should be automatically enrolled immediately on starting work, even where the employer took advantage of postponement for other staff. Fortunately, that was changed following consultation but now when an employee starts work, the employer must check whether he or she has been subject to postponement in the previous 12 months during another employment with the company. If that is the case, automatic enrolment must take place immediately on starting employment.

Part-timers in this context are those earning under the threshold of £5,035 (in 2006/07 earnings terms) who are not eligible for automatic enrolment because they have no qualifying earnings. For them, the employer must offer to provide access to a pension arrangement on request alth-ough there is no requirement for employer contributions.

There is no need for the employer to designate a pension scheme for them until such a request is received and the chosen scheme does not have to be the same as the one used for automatic enrolment. If such employees subsequently have earnings above the threshold, they must be automatically enrolled.

Accidental jobholders are those who have earnings above the automatic enrolment threshold in a pay period but are generally below it.

For them, the employer must calculate whether their pay over the whole year, including the income spike and expected earnings for the rest of the year, is above the threshold. If so, they must be automatically enrolled. These requirements add significantly to the complexities faced by employers.

While there is no immediate urgency to put processes in place for them, it is worth highlighting the different groups in discussions with employers about pension reform. Many will be heavily dependent on advisers.

Ian Naismith is head of pensions market development at Scottish Widows

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