Fines for those who fail to comply with Pensions Auto Enrolment
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has issued 166 Fixed Penalty Notices of £400 to employers who failed to meet their obligations in the last quarter of 2014.
The number of employers approaching the date when they must confirm that they have complied with new workplace pensions duties (known as a declaration of compliance) is now beginning to rise significantly as Auto enrolment is rolled out across all employers. In future months, TPR expects to see more employers who, despite the message to prepare early, leave it too late or do not comply at all.
The Pensions Regulator’s Director of automatic enrolment, Charles Counsell, said,
‘My message to all employers is that failing to declare within five months of your staging date means you risk being fined, which is why we recommend you start your automatic enrolment planning and preparation 12 months before staging.
It appears some medium employers waited for a prompt from the regulator before completing their automatic enrolment duties. Employers must complete all their duties including making their declaration of compliance to The Pensions Regulator.’
Experience to date also shows that employers should begin gathering the information they need to complete their declaration of compliance well in advance of their deadline.
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