The number of firms fined for failing to meet deadlines for enrolling staff in a pension scheme has increased, the Pensions Regulator has said.
The regulator imposed a fixed penalty of £400 each on 166 employers in the last three months of 2014.
Only three such fines had been imposed before that.
The increase coincided with a bulge in the number of medium-sized firms obliged to complete auto-enrolment last year. The process of auto-enrolment was launched by the government in 2012, targeting about 1.3 million employers. It is aimed at ensuring that as many as 10 million employees, who are not currently in a company pension scheme, either join one or join an alternative such as the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest). The enrolment programme kicked off three years ago with big employers such as banks and supermarkets. Last year, it encompassed medium-sized employers too - those with between 62 and 149 staff. So far 43,300 firms in total have begun auto-enrolment and the regulator expects that another 32,000 employers will start this coming financial year.....Read more here