TPR Automatic Enrolment Prosecution

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is to prosecute a healthcare company and its managing director for trying to avoid providing their staff with a workplace pension.

Birmingham-based Crest Healthcare and managing director Sheila Aluko are accused of willfully failing to comply with their automatic enrolment duties under section 45 of the Pensions Act 2008.

Both defendants are also accused of falsely claiming that they had enrolled 25 staff into a workplace pension scheme. Knowingly providing false information to TPR is an offence under section 80 of the Pensions Act 2004.

Crest Healthcare and Sheila Aluko have been summoned to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 22 December 2017.

They will each face two charges of willfully failing to comply with their automatic enrolment duties and one charge of knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to TPR. Both charges can be tried in a Crown Court or in a magistrates’ court. In a Crown Court the maximum sentence for each is two years’ imprisonment. In a magistrates’ court, the maximum sentence for each is an unlimited fine.

This is another example of the TPR taking their statutory objectives very seriously. It will be interesting to see any outcomes of the round-the-country AE spot checks.