Thousands of companies could be putting themselves at risk of being credit blacklisted over workplace pension schemes, a business leader has warned.

Dave Stallon, the commercial director of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said more than 10,000 fines and other sanctions had been issued in the final three months of 2016 because employers had missed deadlines for enrolling staff on workplace pension schemes.

Writing on the FSB  website, Mr Stallon said: "Businesses that have ignored penalty notices issued to them for not meeting their staging date, are now being issued with County Court Judgements (CCJs).

"They will then have 30 days within which to pay the accumulated fines. If they don't, the CCJ will be entered on their credit record, remaining there for six years, and seriously affecting their ability to borrow money in the future.

"For many managing directors and business owners, auto-enrolment is seen as yet another regulatory burden.

"Despite a willingness to do the right thing for their employees, many smaller businesses don't have the resources in-house to set up a compliant scheme and enrol all their staff in time for their staging date."

Mr Stallon said some business owners had been told it would cost at least £12,000, plus £3,000 in annual fees, to set up a pension scheme for 100 staff.

"Businesses shouldn't have to pay these types of costs," he said. "It's highly possible to have a compliant scheme set up for a business employing 115 staff, quickly and easily for not much over £1,000 by a professional provider, with no annual consultancy fees thereafter."

What do you think? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk 

Picture credit: pixabay