Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Act 2024 section 47

Interpretation

Section 47 defines the key terms used throughout this Part of the Act, including the meanings of emoluments, employee, employer, gross pay, total gross pay, and the phased time periods for contribution rate increases.

• An "employee" is any person receiving emoluments (as defined in the income tax legislation), and an "employer" is the person paying those emoluments — the section also defines exempt employment, opt-out date, and payroll notification.
• "Gross pay" for a payment of emoluments is the amount the employer is required to notify to Revenue under PAYE regulations, or where that does not apply, an amount calculated by the Authority based on information reported to Revenue, including notional pay (e.g. benefit in kind) and before any deductions.
• "Total gross pay" for a period is simply the sum of all gross pay amounts across every payment of emoluments in that period, and references to payments of emoluments include payments on account of emoluments.
• The Act introduces three phased time periods — Years 1 to 3, Years 4 to 6, and Years 7 to 9 — each running consecutively from the date on which section 61 (the contributions section) comes into operation, which will govern the phased increase in contribution rates.