Company delaying putting contributions in- is it 'normal practice'?

thenudeone

Following the Robert Maxwell / Mirror Pensions scandal, sweeping new laws were intruduced in the 1990s.

One of these was to make it a criminal offence for a company to fail to pay in within 19 days of the month in which deductions were made, and the scheme trustees were under an obligation to report it to the regulator immediately they became aware of it. I had to do so once ) but as it was the first time, was accidental (related to a payroll move), no formal action was taken:T

I'm pretty sure this was later changed to a civil matter enforced by the regulator. I think the argument was it was difficult to obtain the level of proof necessary in a criminal court (sounds like a very weak argument to me - a bank statement is pretty good evidence!).

I would certainly make the regulator aware. If the trustees have not already informed them, it casts doubt on their determination to act for the interests of scheme members and is worthy of investigation.

buel

Thanks Thenudeone, that is good reading!

Just so you know, it has come to light that the employers haven't made the contributions since June!
Oh dear!

Ironically, i was due to sign up to their pension today too.....!

RichandJ

It really sounds like:

a) you need to change employers ASAP to a solvent one who doesn't break the law &

b) keep a very close eye on how much both your & the employers contributions are and where they've gone.

Are the Trustees of your work pension scheme separate from the employer or are all of them employer appointees ? They have a a legal duty to ensure that contributions are paid at the correct time & if they are not following this duty can be subject to individual financial penalties.

If I were you I'd also alert your colleagues (or those blokes you work with ) to what may be going on.

jamesd

Well, you should still sign up because it is free money if it gets paid.

With no payments since June there should already have been a report made to the regulator by the trustees if it's an occupational defined contributions scheme or by the insurance or other pension company if it's a (group) personal pension. You could contact whichever of those applies and ask them to confirm that they have made a report to the regulator.

While we can speculate that it's because of dire financial trouble, which last payment in June certainly looks like, it is possible that it's not this but instead "just" an abusive employer.

There's nothing to stop your employer asking employees for financial help if money i needed short term. People have done things like agreeing to temporary delays in getting paid part of their pay to help out employers that are in financial trouble, where the problem seems temporary. The employer can't require it but if it is temporary it beats looking for another job after the employer goes bankrupt.

buel

Thank you all for your wonderful help so far!
Just a quick one- I see that there is now a notice up at work which says that '11 payments have been paid in this financial year. August's will be paid in next week'.
Isn't this proof that they have 'commited a crminal act'?

jamesd

The payments not arriving at the pension company would be sufficient. August in the next week seems like some improvement since they still have 12 days for September before it becomes late.

buel

ok, this is the latest-
The employer claimed last week in a meeting that all contributions are now up to date.
Today, apparently the truth is that one payment has been made.

A friend of mine has rang Scottish Widows and said that they will confirm that payments have been made but not what dates? Surely my friend has a right to know this information?

By the way- I am not (yet) in this pension but i have passed the message about it being their legal obligation to report this but no one has the willingness to actually do it. Something i find absolutely unbelievable!!!

le_loup

Speak to the trustees.

thenudeone

le_loup wrote: »

Speak to the trustees.

Who are probably the Company Directors;)

buel

Well im seeing the pension advisor on friday so i shall find that out and other answers.