Stage 1 notice’ will receive a Employer size (by PAYE – ‘warning – scheme size) or other Staging Date compliance/unpaid contribution notice description Stage 2 up call’ fixed penalty of £400 – ‘wake – 250 or more members 1 February 2014 Stage 3 offender’ an escalating – ‘persistent – 50 to 249 members 1 April 2015 penalty is incurred dependant on PAYE size Test tranche for less 30 June 2015 Penalties than 30 members 500+ employees - £10,000 per day 30 to 49 members 1 October 2015 • 250-499 employees - £5,000 per day Less than 30 members 1 April 2017 • 50-249 employees - £2,500 per day Employers without 1 April 2017 • PAYE 5-49 employees - £500 per day • New employers April 1 May 2017 1-4 employees - £50 per day • 2012 to March 2013 Penalties Prohibited Recruitment Conduct New employers 1 July 2017 – 2013 to March 2014 Staff members cannot be actively encouraged or New employers April 1 August 2017 withheld from joining the auto-enrolment pension 2014 to March 2015 scheme. If so, the following penalties will apply:- New employers April 1 October 2017 2015 to December 2015 250+ employees fixed penalty of £5,000 • – New employers January 1 November 2017 50-249 employees fixed penalty of £2,500 • – 2016 to September 5-49 employees fixed penalty of £1,500 • – 2016 1-4 employees fixed penalty of £1,000 • – New employers 1 January 2018 October 2016 to June In addition to the above, The Pension Regulator can 2017 also pursue criminal prosecutions, leading to New employers July 1 February 2018 additional fines and even imprisonment. 2017 to September What level of contribution is required? 2017 If the scheme’s contribution level is based on the New employers Immediate duty standard criteria of total earnings between the lower October 2017 and upper earnings limits (£5,876 and £45,000 for 2017/18 tax year) a total of 2% must be paid from the staging date, of which at least 1% must come from the employer. This will increase to 5% (2% minimum from the employer) in April 2018 and 8% (3% minimum from the employer) in April 2019. There are alternatives to the above criteria. If you want to explore these, make contact with us. Penalties Failure to Comply – What about weekly paid or low paid staff?
Employer size (by PAYE scheme size) or other description Staging Date 250 or more members 1 February 2014 50 to 249 members 1 April 2015 Test tranche for less than 30 members 30 June 2015 30 to 49 members 1 October 2015 Less than 30 members 1 April 2017 Employers without PAYE 1 April 2017 New employers April 2012 to March 2013 1 May 2017 New employers 2013 to March 2014 1 July 2017 New employers April 2014 to March 2015 1 August 2017 New employers April 2015 to December 2015 1 October 2017 New employers January 2016 to September 2016 1 November 2017 New employers October 2016 to June 2017 1 January 2018 New employers July 2017 to September 2017 1 February 2018 New employers October 2017 Immediate duty Penalties – Failure to Comply Stage 1 – ‘warning notice’ – will receive a compliance/unpaid contribution notice Stage 2 – ‘wake up call’ – fixed penalty of £400 Stage 3 – ‘persistent offender’ – an escalating penalty is incurred dependant on PAYE size Penalties • 500+ employees - £10,000 per day • 250-499 employees - £5,000 per day • 50-249 employees - £2,500 per day • 5-49 employees - £500 per day • 1-4 employees - £50 per day Penalties – Prohibited Recruitment Conduct Staff members cannot be actively encouraged or withheld from joining the auto-enrolment pension scheme. If so, the following penalties will apply:- • 250+ employees – fixed penalty of £5,000 • 50-249 employees – fixed penalty of £2,500 • 5-49 employees – fixed penalty of £1,500 • 1-4 employees – fixed penalty of £1,000 In addition to the above, The Pension Regulator can also pursue criminal prosecutions, leading to additional fines and even imprisonment. What level of contribution is required? If the scheme’s contribution level is based on the standard criteria of total earnings between the lower and upper earnings limits (£5,876 and £45,000 for 2017/18 tax year) a total of 2% must be paid from the staging date, of which at least 1% must come from the employer. This will increase to 5% (2% minimum from the employer) in April 2018 and 8% (3% minimum from the employer) in April 2019. There are alternatives to the above criteria. If you want to explore these, make contact with us. What about weekly paid or low paid staff?
Pension_Auto_Enrolment_-_Employer_Guidance_Sept2017.docx