The Pensions Regulator (TPR) are warning employers who ignore penalty charges for failing to enrol employees on pension schemes that they could seriously damage their reputations.
As an employer, it is a legal requirement to automatically enrol staff into a company pension scheme whether they want to or not. You must complete the declaration of compliance withing five months of your staging date, re-register your business every three years with TPR and keep records of all auto enrolment related activity.
TPR have released a list of employers across the country who have been taken to court for failing to pay fines for workplace pension non-compliance, including thirteen companies who have been fined £220,000 in a bid to underline the importance of meeting automatic enrolment policies. Details published include employer’s names, penalty amount and the first part of their postcode.
The worst offenders were 20 employers who were given escalating penalty notices for a total of more than £60,000. However, despite having paid the escalating penalty notices, these employers continued to be non-compliant with their workplace pension duties.
TPR’s Executive Director of Auto Enrolment, Charles Counsell, stated “Employers who willfully refuse to become compliant should be in no doubt that we will take enforcement action against them, as these lists show.”
Evidentially, TPR are clearly determined to make sure all businesses are aware of and complying with auto enrolment rules. In comparison to last year’s statistics, 224 inspections were carried out in a three-month period at the beginning of the year, whereas only 57 inspections occurred throughout 2016.
For more in depth information, please contact one of our experts today.
