With effect from 1 July 2012 (regardless of an employer’s staging date), new legislation came into place to safeguard all employees against certain employers’ practices in relation to pensions. Employers must not engage in any act which is intended to prevent or incentivise an employee or prospective employee from joining a qualifying pension scheme.
As a result there are certain things that an employer must not do, both before a person starts working for them and once that person is a member of a pension scheme with that employer.
These safeguards prevent employers from:
- Stopping active membership of a qualifying pension scheme
- Unfair treatment of workers
- Inducements
- Prohibited recruitment conduct