5.—(1) The pay reference period for the purposes of sections 20(1)(b) and (c) and 26(4)(b) and (5)(b) (quality requirement: UK money purchase schemes and UK personal pension schemes) is as follows.
(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) to (5), the pay reference period in relation to a jobholder is 12 months beginning on—
(a)the staging date (“the jobholder’s first pay reference period”), and
(b)every anniversary of that date.
(3) Where a person becomes a jobholder after the staging date, the jobholder’s first pay reference period begins on the jobholder’s automatic enrolment date and ends on the same day as that of the other jobholders of the employer.
(4) Where a jobholder’s automatic enrolment date is postponed in accordance with regulation 25, the first pay reference period begins on the jobholder’s automatic enrolment date and ends on the same day as that of the other jobholders of the employer.
(5) The pay reference period ends on the date on which a person ceases to be a jobholder in relation to the employer.