We are continuing to see increased levels of activity as more and more small businesses reach their staging dates and some interesting developments on both compliance and enforcement from the Pensions Regulator.

The main points are highlighted below. 

The story so far

The number of employers joining Workers Pension Trust continues to surge ahead with record numbers joining on a monthly basis.

We now have 1,600 businesses and 28,500 employees actively enrolled as members of the Scheme. We are forecasting that growth will continue over the coming months with 1,200 businesses already registered for auto-enrolment with us for 2017.

We remain open to all businesses regardless of their size and number of employees.

The Employer Application Process

We ceased to accept paper applications on 1st August and this has helped to streamline and speed up the joining process. Feedback continues to be very positive on the simplicity and ease of use of the online application process.

Master Trust Accreditation     

In the last newsletter we mentioned that Workers Pension Trust is currently working towards the AAF 0207 Master Trust Assurance Framework.

The framework is an independently audited standard developed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales in partnership with the Pensions Regulator.

Achievement of the framework demonstrates that the Scheme has good standards of governance and administration in place.

The auditor for the framework, Assure UK, have confirmed the Scheme is on track to obtain the framework by the end of the year.

The Pensions Regulator – Compliance and Enforcement

In the Pensions Regulator’s Compliance and Enforcement bulletin for the quarter July to September 2016, they have highlighted the fact that 3,728 Fixed Penalty Notices of £400 were issued in the quarter, for failure to comply with a statutory notice or some specific employer duties.

This is a huge increase as up to July, just over 3,000 notices had been issued in total.

Many of the above have been issued to employers who failed to complete their Declaration of Compliance.

The following are not acceptable excuses for failing to complete the declaration:

• You relied on someone else and they let you down
• You found the online system too difficult to use
• You didn’t get a reminder
• You made a mistake
• You or a member of staff were ill

In short, employers need to complete their Declaration on time or they will be fined!!

Summary

Thank you again for your ongoing support and we look forward to helping you provide the best level of support for your clients.