1. Remove the lower earnings limit (LEL) 2. Change the lower age limit to 18
The analytical report states that it is the government’s ambition to implement the proposed changes to the framework in the mid-2020s. This will be subject to discussions with stakeholders around the detailed design in 2018/19, finding ways to make the changes affordable, and followed in due course by formal consultation (which the CIPP Policy team will of course be a part of) with a view to introducing legislation. The proposals would help to address the barriers faced by ‘multi-jobbers’ as it would mean that those who earn below the current LEL in any of their employments could choose to opt in and would automatically be entitled to employer contributions. Those earning above the earnings trigger in one or more of their jobs would be entitled to increased employer contributions (from £1).
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Recruitment firm bosses posed as staff to stop workers getting pensions 11 June 2018
Senior staff at a national recruitment agency tried to save money by impersonating their temporary workers to opt them out of their workplace pension scheme.
Workchain Ltd owners and directors Phil Tong and Adam Hinkley encouraged five senior staff at the company to get the temporary workers out of the scheme so the company could avoid making pension payments on their behalf.
Financial controller Hannah Armson, HR and compliance officer Lisa Neal and branch managers Martin West, Robert Tomlinson and Andrew Thorpe then worked together to opt workers out of the NEST pension scheme using its online system. Derby-based Workchain (formerly known as Smart Recruitment UK Ltd), which has offices in towns and cities across the Midlands and the neighbouring counties, would have been able to avoid paying pension contributions if the offence had not been detected. A joint investigation into Workchain involving The Pensions Regulator (TPR), the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, Derbyshire Constabulary and Nottinghamshire Constabulary was launched after NEST reported its concerns about Workchain to TPR in May 2014.
Darren Ryder, TPR’s Director of Automatic Enrolment, said:
“Workchain’s directors saw denying their temporary workers pensions as a quick and easy way to save the company money. Both they and their senior staff thought nothing of misusing NEST’s online portal. Thanks to the vigilance of NEST, their attempt to cheat the automatic enrolment system failed.
Automatic enrolment is not an option, it’s the law and the law is clear - no one can opt a worker out of a pension scheme, even if the worker agrees. Those who try to avoid their pension responsibilities in this way face prosecution.”
TPR prosecuted Workchain, the two directors and five senior staff for an offence of unauthorised access to computer data, contrary to section 1(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. This is the first time that TPR has launched prosecutions for this offence.
All of the defendants pleaded guilty to the offence when they appeared for the first time at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 7 June 2018.
District Judge Jonathan Taaffe committed the case to Derby Crown Court for a sentencing hearing on 28 June 2018.
A conviction for computer misuse carries a maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine in a magistrates’ court, or two years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine if the case is committed to the Crown Court.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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