Don't leave your SME open to daily fines
SMEs Can’t Ignore Pension Auto Enrolment or They Will Face Daily Fines.
Data from the Pensions Regulator shows there were 2,545 whistle blowing reports in 2015/16 up by 29%
Last month Swindon Town FC was fined more than £20,000 after it failed to comply with auto-enrolment regulations.
The football club was given an initial fixed penalty notice of £400. After failing to pay and then ignoring several warning notices it eventually reached a settlement to pay backdated pensions contributions.
However, after the deal the club was late to pay what it owed, leading the fine to escalate to a total of more than £20,000.
There is nothing automatic about auto enrolment. You, the employer are going to have to make it happen. If you have just one member of staff you will need to know what to do or you could face daily fines, which include weekends.
Auto enrolment is far more than just pensions – 50% is related to employment law.
There are a number of things you need to do, so create an action plan. A small business needs around 6 months to prepare:-
Staging date - You need to find out the staging date for your particular business.
Define your workers - Do you know who are your workers, contractors, employees etc.
Update your Employment Contracts - They will need to be updated to take into account auto enrolment, and need to remove any mention of stakeholder pensions.
Phasing of contributions - Contributions will start at 1% from employee and 1% from employer.
In 2017 this will increase to 3% from the employee and 2% from the employer
In 2018 the employers’ contribution will increase to 5% and the employees’ contribution will remain at 3%.
For further help and advice contact Nichola@coulthardhr.co.uk 07946 541606
www.coulthardhr.com
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