High street footwear firm Johnsons Shoes Company has been issued with a £42,000 fine after claiming it was too busy to meet its pension duties.

The company was prompted with warnings and an original £400 non-compliance fine from The Pensions Regulator but continued to neglect legal auto-enrolment requirements.

While Johnsons paid the original £400 non-compliance fine, it still did not become compliant, regardless of repeated reminders and warnings that it would face an increased fine of £2,500 per day.

The bill reached £40,000 before the company finally become compliant, and was taken to court by the regulator in order to guarantee payment.

Johnsons finally agreed to pay the £40,000 fine and £2,000 court costs, in order to avoid a full court hearing.

TPR’s executive director of automatic enrolment Charles Counsell, said: “The failure by Johnsons to act, despite our repeated warnings, left it with a completely unnecessary bill that was more than 100 times the amount it was originally fined.

“The vast majority of employers meet their automatic enrolment responsibilities. We will use all the powers available to us against the minority who choose to ignore their duties.

“Our message is clear: fail to comply with the law and you may be fined. Fail to pay your fine and we may take you to court.”

As the policy reaches its final year, ensuring all businesses have enrolled their staff, this case has now induced a new warning to employers by TPR to comply with their duties.

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