Investing in the future is something every person, business, organisation and government should be doing. We have savings accounts for the pennies that we stow away each month and we work throughout our lives to achieve a healthy sum when we retire. The latter is accumulated mainly through a workplace pension, of which there are many types. These fall upon an employer who will make sure that each employee is provided with a suitable pension scheme.

Recent changes, however, have blurred the lines for employers. Automatic enrolment, which has been slowly phased into companies across the UK, is now in place and this has put further onus on employers to enroll eligible staff onto a pension scheme. It has left many companies behind who, knowingly or otherwise, misinform The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

To explain this further, here are three ways The Pensions Regulator are actively seeking those companies that fall foul to the latest rules:

• Short notice inspections: Throughout 2018 TPR have been investigating companies that they suspect of providing false information. This results in a short notice inspection and culminates in the correct pension of each employee being overturned so that the right money is placed into their savings.
• Spot checks on those given penalty notices: The Pensions Regulator have already given out penalty notices to some companies. Given a certain amount of time to fix the problems that exist, they must obey the rules or risk further punishment from TPR.
• Small selection chosen at random: Not every company can be detected for providing false information. That’s why TPR have been randomly generating a sample of employers to check whether they are paying in the right amount to each member of staff.

How TPR cracked down on one attempt to avoid automatic enrolment in London

A case study of an employer who provided TPR with false information was evident earlier this year when TPR investigated a London café called Gran Caffe Londra. It was discovered that the accountant for the café had falsely claimed that their employees were automatically enrolled on pensions schemes. This was not the case. Last month, the accountant admitted to providing false documents to The Pensions Regulator in court and faces a hefty punishment.

What happens if an employer tries, is caught or is considering providing false information?

If an employer is thinking of providing false information they should bear in mind that doing so falls under section 80 of the Pensions Act 2004. A breach of that section carries with it an unlimited fine.

TPR have a wide remit to protect the savings of individuals across the UK as they help to recuperate money that is rightfully theirs. They are responsible for developing how employers run their workplace pensions and are aiming to make the process as easy as possible for employers to understand their requirements.

All of the recent upheaval circulating TPR’s crackdown on providing false information is also aimed at reducing the need for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) which provides employees who are owed money from their workplace pension their deserved savings.

To unearth whether you have your house in order and to discover the options surrounding your workplace pension, speak with our experts at Jackson Accounts.