The Workie in the room
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have launched an advertising campaign today, warning small employers not to ignore auto-enrolment. We have been warning SMEs not to ignore the elephant in the room for some time now, and it is good to see the DWP approach this in a similar way.
It would not be a surprise to see those employers who have yet to stage, view auto-enrolment in the same way that many employers have viewed compliance with stakeholder legislation – many employers simply ignored stakeholder legislation, without any penalty for doing so.
The difference with this elephant in the room is that this one actually does bite! We have seen 1,295 compliance notices issued to date, with 332 fixed penalty notices issued. In four cases, employers have found themselves issued with an escalating penalty notice – these notices could be anywhere from £50 per day to £10,000 per day.
We hope that this campaign (which combines TV commercials as well as digital, radio, press advertising and social media activity) is a success – SMEs cannot afford to be one of the non-compliance statistics!
"1,295 compliance notices issued to date, with 332 fixed penalty notices issued"
