The Pensions Regulator is reminding employers and their advisers, that they need to comply with their auto enrolment duties or face penalties:
'Being ill or short-staffed isn't a good enough excuse for your clients failing to comply with their legal duties. Our latest compliance and enforcement report shows that the number of small and micro employers receiving fines has risen after tribunal judges rejected what the employers claimed were 'reasonable excuses.
As with any other business activity, if an employer is too unwell to complete their AE duties, they'll need to find someone else who can. Automatic enrolment is ultimately the employer's legal responsibility, so whether it's due to pension provider failings or illness, a judge won't consider an excuse to be 'reasonable', if there's something they or someone else could have done to remedy the situation in time.'
TPR's latest 'Compliance and enforcement Quarterly bulletin' reports that instances of penalties have risen but so have the amount of employers who are 'staging' for auto enrolment.
They have also sent over 6,000 letters to employers reminding them that their deadline for compliance is 31 December 2016.
Please contact us if you would like any help with your duties.