The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is reminding all employers of their automatic enrolment (AE) responsibilities as new figures show an increase in penalties issued.

TPR’s quarterly compliance and enforcement bulletin shows a 191.4 per cent rise in unpaid contribution notices (UCNs) – from 352 to 1,026.

There was also a 17 per cent increase in compliance notices (CNs) – from 13,185 to 15,420 – compared with the previous quarter.

UCNs are issued if the regulator believes employers have missed contributions into a workplace pension scheme. The notices give employers a date for paying missed contributions.

Employers receive CN when the regulator thinks they have breached their automatic enrolment duties. The notices outline what the employer needs to do to be compliant, and by when.

The regulator says increase in CNs was partly the result of a 14 per cent increase in employers who reached their declaration, re-declaration or second re-declaration deadline between June and August compared with those who reached their deadline between March and May 2020.

The figures also show how the regulator is continuing to be tough with employers who don’t comply with their duties.

Mel Charles, director of automatic enrolment at TPR, said: “Employers may have seen their business change because of Covid-19, but their pension duties have not.

“While we issued easements at the start of the pandemic, we closely monitored compliance and took action where necessary. We continued to target employers who committed serious breaches and where staff contributions were at immediate risk.

“As predicted, we are seeing a return to normal levels of enforcement activity in line with our expectations, but we will monitor this closely.

“Indications are that the majority of employers are paying their contributions in full and on time and we have not seen any unusual increase in reports of late payments by pension schemes.

“However, employers must remember their pension duties continue and failure to fulfil them may lead to legal action.”

TPR also secured its first confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in September when a fraudster who swindled a charity’s pension scheme out of more than £250,000 was told he must pay back the money he stole or face further jail time.

• To discuss any aspects or issues regarding automatic enrolment please contact me on 01772 430000

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that the furlough scheme will be extended into Spring next year.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will now run until the end of March 2021, with employees receiving 80 per cent of their current salary for hours not worked.

Similarly, support for millions more workers through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be increased, with the third grant covering November to January calculated at 80 per cent of average trading profits, up to a maximum of £7,500.

Under the CJRS scheme, employers will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions for hours not worked.

For an average claim, this accounts for just five per cent of total employment costs, or £70 per employee per month.

The government says that the CJRS extension will be reviewed in January to examine whether the economic circumstances are improving enough for employers to be asked to increase contributions.

The extension follows the start of a second month-long national lockdown in England which is set to end on December 2. It has been imposed in an effort to cut the rate of Covid-19 infections.

Announcing this latest CJRS extension, Mr Sunak said: “I’ve always said I would do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK – and that has meant adapting our support as the path of the virus has changed.

“It’s clear the economic effects are much longer lasting for businesses than the duration of any restrictions, which is why we have decided to go further with our support.

“Extending furlough and increasing our support for the self-employed will protect millions of jobs and give people and businesses the certainty they need over what will be a difficult winter.”

Businesses will have flexibility to use the scheme for employees for any amount of time and shift pattern, including furloughing them full-time.

The extended CJRS will operate as the previous scheme did, with businesses being able to claim either shortly before, during or after running payroll. Claims can be made from 8am Wednesday November 11. Claims made for November must be submitted to HMRC by no-later than December 14.

Claims relating to each subsequent month should be submitted by day 14 of the following month, to ensure prompt claims following the end of the month which is the subject of the claim.

Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously claimed or have been claimed for under CJRS to make a claim under the extended scheme – if other eligibility criteria are met.

An employer can claim for employees who were employed and on their PAYE payroll on October 30, 2020. The employer must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between March 20, 2020 and October 30, 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.

Employees that were employed and on the payroll on September 23, 2020 (the day before the Job Support Scheme announcement) who were made redundant or stopped working afterwards can be re-employed and claimed for.

The employer must have made an RTI submission to HMRC from March 20, 2020 to September 23, 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for those employees.

The government has also announced:

• cash grants of up to £3,000 per month for businesses which are closed worth more than £1 billion every month
• £1.1 billion is being given to local authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly
• plans to extend existing government-backed loan schemes and the Future Fund to the end of January, and an ability to top-up Bounce Back Loans
• an extension to the mortgage payment holiday for homeowners
• up to £500 million of funding for councils to support the local public health response

The new Job Support Scheme (JSS), which was scheduled to start on November 1, has been postponed.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended for a month until December as a new national lockdown is set to come into force in England later this week.

Employees will receive 80 per cent of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500.

Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time.

They will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim, accounts for just five per cent of total employment costs.

This extended furlough scheme will operate as the previous scheme did, with businesses being paid upfront to cover wages costs.

There will be a short period when the Treasury will need to change the legal terms of the scheme and update the system and businesses will be paid in arrears for that period.

The new Job Support Scheme (JSS), which was scheduled to start on November 1, has been postponed until the furlough scheme ends.

Here at WNJ we are awaiting clarification on the intricacies of the furlough extension and we are here for all our clients during this next month and beyond.

Announcing the extension, following the decision to place England in lockdown for one month from Thursday this week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak also revealed further economic support to help businesses and individuals.

Business premises forced to close in England are to receive grants worth up to £3,000 per month under the Local Restrictions Support Grant. They will be eligible for the following:

• For properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks
• For properties with a rateable value of between £15,000-£51,000 grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks
• For properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks

It has also been announced that £1.1bn is being given to local authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.

The government has also extended its ‘mortgage holiday’ for homeowners, which was also set to end at the beginning of November.

Announcing the moves, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Over the past eight months of this crisis we have helped millions of people to continue to provide for their families. But now – along with many other countries around the world – we face a tough winter ahead.

“I have always said that we will do whatever it takes as the situation evolves. Now, as restrictions get tougher, we are taking steps to provide further financial support to protect jobs and businesses. These changes will provide a vital safety net for people across the UK.”

How it works

Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are eligible for the extended CJRS.

All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.

To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 on October 30, 2020.

This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before that date.

As under the current CJRS rules employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.

Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.

When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of seven consecutive calendar days.

Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.

For worked hours, employees will be paid by their employer subject to their employment contract and employers will be responsible for paying the tax and NICs due on those amounts.

What support is being provided and employer costs

For hours not worked by the employee, the government will pay 80 percent of wages up to a cap of £2,500. Under the current CJRS, this cap is reduced pro-rata, dependant on the hours worked by the employee. The grant must be paid to the employee in full.

Employers will pay employer NICs and pension contributions, and should continue to pay the employee for hours worked in the normal way.

As with the current CJRS, employers are still able to choose to top up employee wages above the scheme grant at their own expense if they wish.

The government will confirm shortly when claims can first be made in respect of employee wage costs during November, but there will be no gap in eligibility for support between the previously announced end-date of CJRS and this extension.

What the latest lockdown means

England’s new national lockdown will start on Thursday November 5 and will be in place until Wednesday December 2.

To reduce social contact as it looks to reduce the spread of Covid-19, the government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close.

These include:

• all non-essential retail, including, but not limited to clothing and electronics stores, vehicle showrooms, travel agents, betting shops, auction houses, tailors, car washes, tobacco and vape shops.
• indoor and outdoor leisure facilities such as bowling alleys, leisure centres and gyms, sports facilities including swimming pools, golf courses and driving ranges, dance studios, stables and riding centres, soft play facilities, climbing walls and climbing centres, archery and shooting ranges, water and theme parks
• entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, adult gaming centres and arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, concert halls, zoos and other animal attractions, botanical gardens
• personal care facilities such as hair, beauty and nail salons, tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services, non-medical acupuncture, and tanning salons

Food shops, supermarkets, garden centres and certain other retailers providing essential goods and services can remain open.

Essential retail should follow Covid-secure guidelines to protect customers, visitors and workers.

Non-essential retail can remain open for delivery to customers and click-and-collect.

Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs must close, but can still provide takeaway and delivery services. However, takeaway of alcohol will not be allowed.

Hotels, hostels and other accommodation should only open for those who have to travel for work purposes and for a limited number of other exemptions which will be set out in law.

To help contain the virus, everyone who can work effectively from home must do so.

Where people cannot do so – for instance people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing – they should continue to travel to work/attend their workplace.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will conduct a one-year Spending Review in late November to priorities the government’s response to Covid-19 and focus on supporting jobs.

The Treasury has announced that the review will take place on November 25. It replaces long-term Comprehensive Spending Review that was planned.

It said it was “the right thing” at the moment to “focus entirely” on protecting jobs and responding to the crisis.

The change comes as economic experts warn that the UK is at risk of a double-dip recessions.

The Covid crisis had already led to the scrapping of the Autumn Budget in favour of the long-term review.

The new review will now settle government departments’ resource and capital budgets for 2021-22, and the devolved administrations’ block grants for the same period.

Multi-year NHS and schools’ resource settlements will be fully funded, as will priority infrastructure projects.

The government says the review will build on business support measures that have already been introduced and will focus on three areas:

• Providing departments with the certainty they need to tackle Covid-19 and deliver a ‘Plan for Jobs’ to support employment
• Giving public services enhanced support to continue to fight against the virus alongside delivering frontline services
• Investing in infrastructure to deliver plans to “unite and level up the country”, drive economic recovery and “Build Back Better”

Announcing the move the chancellor said: “In the current environment its essential that we provide certainty.

“So, we’ll be doing that for departments and all of the nations of the United Kingdom by setting budgets for next year, with a total focus on tackling Covid and delivering our Plan for Jobs.

“Long term investment in our country’s future is the right thing to do, especially in areas which are the cornerstone of our society like the NHS, schools and infrastructure.

“We’ll make sure these areas crucial to our economic recovery have their budgets set for further years so they can plan and help us Build Back Better.”