Automatic enrolment: are you ready?

1st November 2015

More employers are failing to meet their obligations

The latest report on ‘compliance and enforcement’ from the Pensions Regulator shows that the recent batches of employers due to auto enrol have not been as prompt as their predecessors in meeting their responsibilities.

In the third quarter of 2015, the regulator issued 469 ‘compliance notices’ requiring employers to “remedy a contravention”, whereas in the second quarter 119 were issued. 85 Unpaid Contribution Notices were sent out, against 50 in April-June. Further up the infringement scale, there were 107 Fixed Penalty Notices of £400 served “for failure to comply with a statutory notice or some specific employer duties” against 68 in the second quarter.

What will happen in the next 12 months is causing some concern to the regulator and many others. Since October 2012, over 60,000 employers have had to deal with auto enrolment. In the next 12 months the regulator says that more than 500,000 employers will go through auto enrolment. No wonder the regulator’s latest press release, accompanying those compliance figures, stresses “the importance of all employers knowing how workplace pensions law applies to them and of acting in a timely manner”.

If your business has not yet started preparing for auto-enrolment, the escalating number of interventions by the regulator is a reminder that procrastination is becoming increasingly dangerous. To discuss your options and avoid unwelcome regulatory attention, talk to us about your options as soon as possible. Do not delay: those half a million employers which have to auto-enrol over the next year could well create an advisory bottleneck.

The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.