How we enforce

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.

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On this page

• Compliance notices and missed deadline letters
• Unpaid contributions notice
• Notice to produce documents or information
• Penalty notices
• Prosecution
• Outstanding debt

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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.

Is the compliance notice you've received from our Wymondham address?

If you have received a compliance notice from our Wymondham address, you must complete both stages below.

What you need to do

Follow the two stages to comply with the law:

• Stage 1

  Check that you have completed your legal duties for automatic enrolment by following our step-by-step guide for employers.

• Stage 2

  Submit your declaration or re-declaration of compliance form. This form tells us how you have met your legal duties, and you must complete it even if you do not have any staff to enrol in a pension.

You must carry out your legal duties before submitting your declaration or re-declaration of compliance - deliberately including incorrect information is 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.

Is the unpaid contributions notice you've received from our Wymondham address?

If you have received an unpaid contributions notice from our Wymondham address, you must complete the three steps below.

What you need to do

Follow the three steps by your deadline, or you may be issued a penalty notice. If you have resolved the issue with your pension provider, you must still send evidence to The Pensions Regulator to stop enforcement action.

• Step 1: Calculate the total amount in unpaid contributions

To comply with the law, you must calculate and pay the correct amount owed in unpaid contributions for each person in your scheme.

Key points:

• • Your pension scheme provider may have contacted you about these unpaid contributions, but the correct amount may differ from the amount reported.
  • If you missed further payments, the amount you pay must include all outstanding contributions.
  • Check your pension provider is up to date with anyone who has joined or left your scheme.

The amount you pay will be specific to your scheme. Contact your pension provider for further information or if you need to dispute the amount owed.

• Step 2: Contact your pension provider to pay the total amount of unpaid contributions to the manager or trustee of the pension scheme

Include all outstanding payments, or we may issue a further Unpaid Contributions Notice under section 37 of the Pensions Act 2008.

You should contact your scheme provider directly to resolve any issues if you dispute any outstanding unpaid contributions.

• Step 3: Send evidence showing the payment(s) to The Pensions Regulator

You must pay the contributions before you send evidence; we cannot accept documents showing payments scheduled for a future date.

Acceptable evidence includes screenshots from the pension provider’s website portal which clearly shows the below:

1. 1. the Employer Pension Scheme Reference (EPSR) number (this may be known as the group policy number, and for National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) schemes, this is your NEST ID.)
   2. reported periods have been paid, and
   3. the actual date the reported periods were paid – (DD/MM/YYYY).

If you’re not able to send screenshots:

• • Bank statements can only be acceptable with additional evidence, for example invoices from the scheme provider.
  • An email from your scheme provider confirming:
    • there are no outstanding contributions for the period(s) previously reported, and
    • the date(s) you paid the contributions.
  • If you cannot pay the amount in one go due to financial difficulties and have agreed a payment plan with your pension provider, you must send evidence of the agreed payment plan and the date it started.

Please send your evidence to The Pensions Regulator at: CandE@autoenrol.tpr.gov.uk or by post to: The Pensions Regulator, PO Box 349 Abbey View Wymondham NR18 8JA.

Notice to produce documents or information

A notice to produce documents or information may be issued when we require further information relating to your legal duties for automatic enrolment. Follow the specific instructions in the notice to avoid a penalty and a criminal offence.

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.

Prosecution

Wilfully failing to put eligible staff into a pension scheme and knowingly providing false information in a declaration or re-declaration of compliance are criminal offences. If we prosecute you, the maximum punishment is two years in prison or a fine.

Outstanding debt

If you do not pay a penalty by the deadline, we will recover unpaid fines through legal proceedings, which may include obtaining a county court judgment (CCJ) and instructing bailiffs or sheriffs.

Find more information on how you can a pay an automatic enrolment penalty notice and what to do if you are struggling to pay.

Useful links

• Pay your penalty notice
• Apply for a review
• Appeal to the tribunal