Part-time workers on minimum wage could qualify for workplace pension auto-enrolment by working as little as 15 hours per week from April 2026, according to analysis from Standard Life.

The research showed that the planned increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) to £12.71 an hour will mean employees aged 22 and over reach the £10,000 annual earnings trigger for auto-enrolment by working around two days a week.

This is around 10 hours fewer per week than when auto-enrolment was introduced in 2012.

Indeed, at the time the policy launched, the minimum wage for those aged 21 and over stood at £6.19 an hour, and the earnings trigger was £8,105, requiring employees to work roughly 25 hours a week across the year to qualify for a workplace pension.

While the auto-enrolment threshold has remained fixed at £10,000 since 2014, increases in the minimum wage have significantly reduced the number of hours needed to qualify.

Standard Life’s analysis suggests that even limited working hours can translate into meaningful pension contributions.

For example, an employee earning the minimum wage and working 15 hours a week could add around £818 to their pension pot in a single year through auto-enrolment, once employer contributions and tax relief are included.

For those working full-time on the minimum wage, approximately £2,030 could be added to their pension in one year.

Over the course of a whole career, a 22-year-old working full-time on the minimum wage could build a pension pot worth up to £208,000 in today’s money by state pension age.

However, separate Standard Life research highlighted ongoing challenges for low-income workers.

It found that just 9 per cent of low-income households see pension saving as a financial priority over the next year, compared with 28 per cent of high-income households.

Currently, only about one in four low-income private-sector workers are saving into a pension.

The findings come as the reinstated Pensions Commission prepares to examine retirement savings adequacy, particularly among lower earners.

Standard Life director of the Centre for the Future of Retirement, Catherine Foot, argued that higher minimum wages were having a dual impact on pension saving.

"A rising minimum wage not only boosts pension savings through higher contributions on increased salaries, but it also makes auto-enrolment more accessible."

Foot added that while immediate financial pressures remain significant for low-income households, even modest pension savings can have a meaningful long-term impact once employer contributions are taken into account.

She also cautioned that the Pensions Commission will need to carefully balance efforts to address under-saving among lower earners with the growing cost pressures facing employers as wages and employment costs continue to rise.

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