Employers across the UK suspected of providing false or misleading information to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) about how they are meeting their automatic enrolment duties, will now be targeted with short notice inspections.
 
This latest round of spot checks will also target employers who are still non-compliant despite penalty action.
 
TPR’s Director of Automatic Enrolment, Darren Ryder, said: “It is an offence for employers to provide TPR with false information on their declaration of compliance, but there are tell-tale signs indicating an employer might not be telling the truth. We can also detect employers who are failing to meet their automatic enrolment duties despite being issued with a penalty and we will take action if we suspect either of these is the case.
 
“The vast majority of employers are meeting their responsibilities and automatic enrolment is now business as usual. But where employers fail to comply with the law, we will use our full range of our powers to ensure staff get the pensions they are due.”
 
In a recent court case, a healthcare provider was fined £20,000 by the courts for providing TPR with false or misleading information. Birmingham-based Crest Healthcare and its managing director pleaded guilty to knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information and wilfully failing to comply with their automatic enrolment duties.