More than 136,000 small and micro employers complied with their auto-enrolment responsibilities in the first quarter of 2017, bringing the total number of firms through the process to more than 500,000.
The acceleration of the pace of employers staging means employers are now complying at a rate of one every 57 seconds. More than 7.6m workers are now saving within schemes. Between 800,000 and 900,000 employers still have to go through the process. Of these, a further 600,000 will do so this year.
TPR’s latest declaration of compliance report shows that by the end of March, 503,178 employers had completed their duties.
Pensions minister Richard Harrington says: “These impressive new figures show that by setting up a workplace pension, employers are getting their staff on the road to a financially secure retirement.
“But there are nearly a million employers out there who still need to enrol their staff and I would encourage them to take up the support on offer from The Pensions Regulator. Pensions can seem daunting, but there is a wealth of information available to help you get set up.”
TPR executive director of automatic enrolment Charles Counsell says: “We expected that the number of employers becoming compliant would increase dramatically this year and I’m delighted that we’ve reached the 500,000 mark.
“Hundreds of thousands more employers are due to follow suit over the coming months and it is vital that they act early and do not leave themselves open to being fined.
“Some employers may see becoming compliant as a challenge but we have written to each of them and are here to help them to meet their responsibilities. I would urge every employer to check today that they know what they need to do and when they need to do it. Now is the time to seek help if you need it.”
