If employers fail to comply with their legal duties, we have various powers available to us, such as issuing notices including fines. As an employer you can ask for a review of these notices.
If you receive a notice, keep it safe as it contains key information.
If you knowingly supply false information in a declaration or re-declaration of compliance you may be committing a criminal offence.
Unpaid contributions notice
An unpaid contributions notice may be issued when a pension provider reports that an employer has unpaid contributions. You must calculate and pay all outstanding contributions, then send evidence of having paid the contributions by the deadline in the notice or risk a fine.
If you have received an unpaid contributions notice from our Brighton office, you must follow the instructions in the notice and speak to your case manager if you have any questions.
Compliance notices and missed deadline letters
We may issue a letter or compliance notice when our records show that you have missed your statutory deadline to submit a declaration or re-declaration of compliance. You must complete your legal duties for automatic enrolment and submit a declaration or re-declaration of compliance by the deadline to comply with the law and avoid a fine.
We may issue other types of compliance notices under various sections of the Pensions Act.
If you have received a compliance notice from our Brighton office, you must follow the instructions in the notice and speak to your case manager if you have any questions.
Penalty notices
We can issue penalty notices if you fail to comply with a statutory notice, or to address particular kinds of breach.
If you receive a penalty, you will need to pay the fine(s) and follow the instructions in the compliance notice or unpaid contributions notice to comply with your legal duties, or risk a further penalty.
- Fixed penalty notice
If you don’t comply with a compliance notice or unpaid contributions notice, or if there’s evidence of breaches of the law, you may be sent a fixed penalty notice. The fine is fixed at £400 and must be paid within the period set out in the penalty notice.
- Escalating penalty notice
If you still don’t comply with a compliance notice or unpaid contributions notice you may be sent an escalating penalty notice. This gives you a new deadline to comply, after which you will be fined at a daily rate of £50 to £10,000. The fine will continue to grow at the daily rate until you comply with the statutory notice, or until we stop it.
- Prohibited recruitment conduct penalty notice
If you don’t comply with a prohibited recruitment conduct compliance notice or there is evidence of a breach, you may be sent a penalty notice. This fine has a prescribed rate of £1,000 to £5,000, depending on the number of staff you have.