Workie, the friendly, furry giant comes with a serious message, as Neil Esslemont from The Pensions Regulator explains
You will perhaps have noticed a new character arrived this autumn to help remind employers that the law has changed and that they have new workplace pensions duties.
Workie comes with a serious message: it’s time for small and micro employers to act. This big, colourful character will be seen visiting people in all sorts of work environments over the coming months, asking them not to ignore him.
To date, we are pleased at the high numbers of employers that have met their auto-enrolment duties with low opt out rates. But there is much more to do. Communicating in the right way with small and micro employers – be they window cleaners, garage owners or florists – has been and will continue to be fundamental to the ongoing success of auto-enrolment.
A new audience
For many small and micro employers, meeting their auto-enrolment duties represents a huge cultural change – it will be the first time they have provided a workplace pension scheme to their staff.
The reality is that many of the smallest employers are not organisations at all. They are individuals who happen to employ someone – it could be a nanny, a gardener or a personal care assistant.
The Workie character and the ‘don’t ignore the workplace pension’ message of our new advertising campaign with the DWP has been designed to engage this group of employers, to make them aware of their duties.
We can then help them to understand their responsibilities and take the necessary steps to enrol their eligible staff into workplace pensions.
For further information and to view the ad please go to www.workplacepensions.gov.uk
Educate and enable
This autumn we also updated our website and the letters and emails we send to employers. We have made our communications simpler and more directive, using a language that the smallest employers can understand, presented in a way that is both informative and authoritative.
Our online journey includes the following:
• A duties checker: To help employers understand which duties apply to them, there are interactive questions, which allow an employer to quickly establish if they will need to put any staff into a pension scheme.
• A step-by-step guide for those who do have any staff they must put into a pension scheme, including how to provide a pension scheme for those employees who ask to join one.
• It provides a streamlined journey for those with domestic workers and those who employ a personal care assistant.
• Videos, animation and graphics all helping employers understand what auto-enrolment is and what they need to consider when choosing a pension scheme.
We know employers can be worried about choosing a pension for their staff. Most employers are likely to pick a scheme offered by a large, specialist provider that can be used by many different employers.
We offer information on our website to help employers with their choice and suggest they look at different schemes before deciding which is suitable for them and their staff.
Get ready for big numbers
Next year sees the numbers of employers reaching their staging date rise dramatically. Payroll providers need to be prepared for large numbers of small employers asking you for information.
To get ahead of any last minute rush, we suggest finding out your clients’ staging dates so you can plan your workload. Make sure your client is clear about what services you provide and what services you will not be providing.
The business adviser’s online guide on our website is the go-to place for information and guidance.
The language used in this section has been aligned with the language now used in the step-by-step journeys for small and micro employers – less jargon, more everyday words to explain their duties. We want those AE experts accustomed to the more detailed information we have provided advisers to be sighted on the way we are communicating to these small and micro employers to avoid confusion between them and their clients.
Our message has been consistent since 2012, across successive campaigns, that workplace pensions have changed and it’s the law for every employer. As we enter 2016, we will be continuing to write directly to employers and to work with professional and employer trade associations to get the message out to their members.
My team and I look forward to meeting and continuing to work with the payroll industry across the UK over the coming year, as you help employers implement the changes.