TPR undertakes AE spot checks on Manchester employers | West London Business

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has carried out spot checks in Greater Manchester to ensure employers are complying with their automatic enrolment (AE) responsibilities.

If you are a business owner in the UK you had better brace yourself, The Pensions Regulator is starting to do the rounds. They have already conducted short-notice inspections in London and Manchester, and visits will begin in other towns and cities across the UK over next few weeks.

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The move is part of a nationwide enforcement campaign that began in London in February and will be rolled out to major cities across the country in a bid to ensure employers are meeting their AE duties correctly.

Greater Manchester became the second area to be the focus of the short-notice inspections last week as inspection teams visited 26 businesses in and around the city to check qualifying staff were being given the workplace pension they are entitled to.

TPR said the vast majority were fully compliant although data from some businesses was still being reviewed. The regulator added the checks would help it to understand whether employers are facing any unnecessary challenges that it can help with, such as improving its guidance.

It said the campaign would also highlight employers who have not taken the required steps to become or remain compliant, which will pave the way for enforcement actions from TPR.

Visits will begin in other towns and cities across the UK in the following week. Employers are notified about an inspection a matter of days in advance of a visit from TPR.

TPR acting director of AE Darren Ryder said: “The vast majority of employers become compliant ahead of their deadline but visits help us to identify why some have not, so we can take action where we need to.

“Every employer has workplace pension duties and we are determined every worker gets the pension they are entitled to.

“Automatic enrolment is not an option, it’s the law. Where we find employers are not complying with the law, we will use our powers to make them comply.”

According to TPR, more than seven million workers are now auto-enrolled and more than half a million employers are now set up for AE duties – though twice as many have yet to fully comply.