The Pensions Regulator has reported another huge spike in the number of compliance notices it has issued to businesses which haven't complied with auto-enrolment rules.
The regulator revealed that in the third quarter of 2016 it issued 15,073 compliance notices out of a total of 26,040 since auto-enrolment began in 2012.
This means three out of five of the compliance notices issued over the past four years were done so in the last three months.
The extent of the increase prompted Catherine Pinkney, co-founder of the payroll and workplace pension platform, Paycircle, to describe it as "frankly staggering".
She said while the increase was "always on the cards" as the smallest businesses started to stage, the numbers were still "a real cause for concern".
"For a multitude of reasons, not least considerable confusion around whose responsibility the workplace pension is — payroll provider, accountant, bookkeeper, adviser or employers themselves — many firms are burying their heads in the sand," she said.
"Many of the smallest businesses still don't know who to turn to for help. The irony is that for many, doing it themselves can be the quickest and cheapest option."
But TPR said the spike was in line with expectations, and was down to the fact that a huge number of small and micro-businesses were now reaching their staging date.
Of the 15,073 businesses that were issued with compliance notices, 3,728 were issued with a fixed penalty notice, which comes with a £400 fine.
Just 576 were issued with an escalating penalty notice, which comes with a fine of between £50 and £10,000.
Over the period, TPR used its powers 19,825 times, compared with 34,703 times since AE's inception.
TPR warned employers that excuses for non-compliance such as illness, being short-staffed, or confusion between employers and their advisers, were not "reasonable".
"We recognise that employers have unique circumstances and challenges, but the law is still the law. Employers who are struggling should contact us, we are here to help - do not wait for a fine," Charles Counsell, TPR's executive director of automatic enrolment, said.
Pensions minister Richard Harrington added that employers "must ensure they enrol their staff into a scheme by the deadline for their firm, it's the law".
james.fernyhough@ft.com
