There are many laws in place to safeguard employees and make the workplace more fair. However, in some instances, employers have flouted the rules and landed themselves a hefty charge as a result.

Here, accredited certification body, QA International discusses the potential areas of non-compliance for UK businesses and the costs that could arise.

Pension auto enrolment

The UK government has introduced a compulsory workplace pension scheme, which is currently being rolled out. The aim is to have all eligible UK works enrolled in the scheme by 2018. There are different staging dates for each type of employer, with the UK’s largest rolling out the scheme first.

Failure to comply can be costly. In the worst case scenario, persistent ignorance of the requirements could lead to a penalty notice, which could cost the business:

  • A fixed fine of £400
  • Between £50 and £10,000 for each day of non-compliance
  • A Prohibited Recruitment Conduct Penalty Notice of up to £5,000
  • A Civil Penalty Notice of up to £5,000 per individual and £50,000 per organisation

While this may seem improbable, an unnamed business was recently fined £10,000 for non-compliance to auto-enrolment, as well as £15,000 in backdated employee contributions on top of the fixed £400 fine.

Health and safety fines

Breeches to health and safety can lead to serious injuries and even death, so it’s imperative that employers adhere to regulations. This includes staying up-to-date with developments and changes.

In February 2016, changes were made to the fines employers face for serious health and safety offences. There is now a tier based system that bases the charges on the size of the company and the severity of the offence.

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For example, a medium-sized company could be fined between £1.8 million and £7.5 million if convicted of the most serious breaches of the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

Clearly, it’s in everyone’s best interest to ensure health and safety procedures are followed exactly. The potential impact of breaches could be life-changing, both for the employee affected and the employer.