Can an employer put some or all of their scheme membership on a contribution holiday?

No. Minimum contributions required under automatic enrolment have not been suspended, so employers should continue to pay their own and forward their employees’ contributions to their scheme provider in the normal way. The Pensions Act 2008 includes safeguarding rules to protect employees from being taken out of a qualifying pension scheme unless they make that decision for themselves. If an employer takes any action that results in active membership of a qualifying scheme ceasing for a jobholder, the employer has a duty to immediately re-enrol the jobholder back into a qualifying scheme from the day after active membership ceases. A contribution holiday is only permitted when an employer is facilitating a request directly from an employee themselves. Inducing an employee to opt out or cease membership is prohibited.