An increasing hot topic in the realm of AE includes the rising level of penalties being issued by The Pension Regulator (TPR) which many companies are still struggling to adhere to. Simply put, employees who meet a certain criteria must be enrolled in a pension scheme by their staging date. No head in the sand, no turning a blind eye – NO EXCUSES. This post will reinstate why it is so important to ensure your employees and clients are enrolled in a pension scheme as soon as possible.

This year alone, Q3 witnessed 3728 Fixed Penalty Notices due to the failure to comply with AE guidelines. A failure to act can result in an initial £400 fine as well as an accrued daily rate ranging from £50-£10,000. Swindon Football Club know just too well how quickly fines set by TPR can add up due to failure to act on penalty notices. By the 16^th of February 2016, the football club had finally settled a hefty £22,900 fine by TPR for repeatedly failing to comply with the guidelines. This included the initial £400 fine for failing to act by their initial staging date of 17^th October 2014, as well as the first lot of fines set at £2500 per day from 18^th February 2016 – 26^th February 2015.

While TPR repeatedly stress they are there to help employers, they will not tolerate any excuses. Part of the problem rests with the fact that many employers, and those of SME’s in particular, are still not aware of how simple the process can be through outsourcing their needs to the right people. Don’t get caught out by avoidable fines! If an employer is strapped for time, or confused by the AE process, pension experts such as pensionsync and OptEnrol are on hand to help guide employers along the process.