First automatic enrolment non-compliance notice issued by Pensions Regulator

The regulator confirmed in response to a freedom of information (FOI) request that it had issued the notice, but did not name the employer involved. It has also issued 38 informal "warning letters" to companies as part of its compliance and enforcement strategy, it said.

A spokesperson for the regulator said that its early investigations into possible non-compliance tended to focus on employer readiness in relation to their duties, including the nature of their communications with workers.

"One of our core messages to employers is to allow plenty of time to prepare for their staging date," the regulator said. "Where we identify particular issues affecting a certain sector or size of employer, we will look to highlight this with those employers using the most appropriate channel."

"Most of the investigations opened so far have been to help employers to comply on time where we had concerns they were not on target. We're pleased to say that in the vast majority of incidences this has been achieved through direct communication without the need to use our powers to compel compliance," it said.

The regulator said that it planned to publish "further detailed information around compliance and enforcement work" shortly.

Under the automatic enrolment programme, more than 1.3 million employers will have to begin automatically enrolling workers into a pension scheme which meets minimum requirements or the Government-backed National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). Once the process begins, employers will be legally obliged to make contributions towards the pensions of automatically enrolled workers who do not opt out of the scheme.

The programme began for the largest employers in October 2012, and 'staging dates' by which smaller companies and new companies will have to begin the process run until 2018. All companies with 500 employees are more are due to have begun auto-enrolment by the end of this year.

In its first in-depth analysis on auto-enrolment, published last month, the Pensions Regulator said that it had opened a total of 89 investigations into possible non-compliance with the reforms, with a focus on employer readiness. It said that it was operating a programme of "targeted communication" to make employers aware of their duties well in advance of their staging dates, starting with letters issued at least 18 months before the employer is due to begin auto-enrolment.

Pensions expert Simon Tyler of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that it was clear that the regulator was taking employers' failure to do what was required to properly implement auto-enrolment seriously. Employers issued with a compliance notice should "sit up and take action", he said.

"The regulator's position is perhaps unsurprising, given the Government's push to ensure auto-enrolment is successful in dramatically improving levels of pension saving in the UK," he said.

"A compliance notice is a serious step. The Pensions Regulator can generally only impose a fixed penalty of £400 for a breach of most of the auto-enrolment requirements. However, if a company fails to comply with a compliance notice, it can impose a fine that escalates daily by up to £10,000 depending on the size of the employer," he said.