Important reminder about auto enrolment fines and free workshops

5th May 2016

On the back of The Pensions Regulator fining Swindon Town Football Company £22,900 after it failed to put eligible workers into a pension scheme, this article is a worthwhile reminder from Hawsons Wealth Management, part of Hawsons Chartered Accountants, of the auto enrolment fines that your business could face.

What auto enrolment fines could you receive? If your business does not comply with your auto enrolment duties, you are risking fines of at least £400. Regardless of the size of your business, non-compliance could mean an initial £400 fine, with the possibility of further escalating fines. Escalating auto enrolment fines are daily penalties that are imposed in addition to the initial £400 fixed penalty and could be as much as £50 per employee. Example Your business has 10 employees and you miss your staging date. Your auto enrolment fines could be: £400 fixed penalty £50 x 10 = £500 per day escalating fines By delaying your staging date by just one week you could face auto enrolment fines of £3,500. When are auto enrolment fines imposed? If your business does not satisfy the rules i.e. have a pension scheme in place, have a system to record the relevant information, or you miss your staging date, The Pensions Regulator will send you a statutory notice In the last quarter of 2015 The Pensions Regulator issued more than 2,500 statutory notices to businesses, over 1,000 fixed penalty notices and 24 escalating penalties. Preparing for auto enrolment free workshops The team at Hawsons recommend that you start talking to your pension adviser as soon as possible to build a timescale and agenda to make sure it all falls in to place. It is really important that you seek professional help if you do not understand or you are unsure about your auto enrolment requirements. Do not wait until it is too late, or risk you could face considerable auto enrolment fines. Each month Hawsons run free auto enrolment workshops in Sheffield, Doncaster and Northampton with the specialists from Hawsons Wealth Management. New dates for May, June and July have now been added. For more information and to book onto one of the free workshops please click here. Link: www.hawsons.co.uk/workshops