The first company to face prosecution for not auto-enroling staff into a workplace pension will face charges next month.
The Pensions Regulator is prosecuting Stotts Tours, a bus company from Manchester, for not putting staff into a workplace pension.
The business, as well as its director, Alan Stott will be prosecuted.
The company is charged with failing to comply with the law on automatic enrolment and the director for either consenting or conniving in the bus company’s offence, or allowing the offence to be committed by neglect.
Stotts employs 36 members of staff.
The case will come to Brighton Magistrates Court on 4 October.
They will face eight charges of wilfully failing to comply with the company’s duties under section 3(2) of the Pensions Act 2008, contrary to section 45 of the Act in the case of Stotts Tours (Oldham) and contrary to section 46 of the Act in the case of Mr Stott.
Although this is the first prosecution for these offences, the regulator has issued many fines to companies that have not complied with auto-enrolment requirements.
The regulator issued 4,794 fixed penalty notices of £400 to employers for failing to meet their auto-enrolment duties in the period April to June 2017, up from 4,673 the previous quarter.
This was the largest total issued to date.
Auto-enrolment offences can be tried in a crown court or in a magistrates’ court.
In a crown court the maximum sentence is two years imprisonment. In a magistrates’ court, the maximum sentence is an unlimited fine.
rosie.murray-west@ft.com
