First SME issued escalating fine for pension non-compliance
Posted on in Business News
The pension's watchdog has ramped up the number of fines issued for auto-enrolment non-compliance and has even begun issuing daily escalating fines.
The number of employers fined by The Pensions Regulator for auto-enrolment failures has accelerated over the past six months.
198 firms were served fixed penalty notices the first quarter of this year and, for the first time, the daily escalating penalty notices have been issued.
As more small businesses begin to face their staging dates we can expect more fines, and escalating penalties.
If a company fails to act in time or does not fulfil their obligations to a satisfactory level, compliance penalty notices are issued instructing employers to remedy the breach of their duties.
Failing to act on a penalty notice has led to four companies receiving a daily escalating penalty notice, according to the last quarterly report from the Pensions Regulator. These fines were issued to one large employer at £5,000 per day, two medium-sized firms at £2,500 per day and one small employer at £500 per day.
Large employers are categorised by having 250 and more people, medium employers have 50 to 249 and small employers have fewer than 50 people.
With hundreds of thousands of small employers reaching their staging dates every quarter, there will be rush to source an auto-enrolment supplier.
Some pension providers have been known to be unwilling to take on business if the employer is within 6 months of its staging date, so SMEs need to act fast.
From March 1 2015, businesses with fewer than 50 employees started automatically enrolling employees into workplace pensions while companies with 30 staff or fewer faced their staging date from June 1st 2015.
Click here to find out your own staging date based on your PAYE reference number.
ActSmart can help
ActSmart can introduce you to Elliott Sanders of Copthorne Hundred Wealth Management, a Partner Practice of St. James's Place Wealth Management who can offer all businesses, no matter what size, advice on pension auto-enrolment.
St. James's Place Wealth Management are one of the leading wealth
management organisations in the UK with a national network of advisers.
Using their experience, they offer businesses and individuals a wealth
management service, incorporating pension advice. The advice is
face-to-face and tailored to your business or personal objectives.
- Complimentary initial consultation
- Face-to-face advice
- Impartial advice
- Advice is guaranteed by St. James's Place when recommending any products or services provided by the St. James's Place Group
Find out more here or phone Elliot Sanders's team on 01372 721616 / email Elliott.Sanders@sjpp.co.uk.