In its latest quarterly update covering June to September 2016, The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has revealed they have seen a distinct rise in the number of fines for pension non-compliance with 3,728 fixed penalty notices issued, compared to 861 the previous quarter.
From June to September, 15,073 compliance notices were issued, to remedy a breach of one or more automatic enrolment employer duties, up from 3,392 in the previous quarter. With the compliance notice comes the risk of a fine of £400 for failure to comply. Failure to comply with a compliance notice will lead to the TPR issuing escalating penalty notices, which carry a fine of between £50 and £10,000 per day. TPR issued 576 of such notices between June to September, up from just 38 the previous quarter.
The latest report has shown that the TPR are using their powers more often, as increasing numbers of small and micro employers reach their staging date, with many leaving it to the last minute to prepare. The TPR also highlighted some of the reasons employers are using to explain their delays in implementing Auto Enrolment, which include being unaware of the requirements and a key person on holiday or sick so unable to manage the additional requirements. They also provide some case studies of companies who have challenged the validity and amounts of the fines, which in all cases were unsupported by the tribunal.
So what does this mean? Simply put, Auto Enrolment is a legal requirement that you must comply with. Our Auto Enrolment solution, which provides the pension scheme, assessment capability and staging support, costs the equivalent of the fine that will be imposed if you ignore this legal requirement! For only £450 set-up fee, why would you take the risk?.
For more information on how you can let the experts manage your end-to-end enrolment requirements simply click here.
For more information on the Pensions Regulator Report click the link here.