Pensions (No. 2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008

Inducements

54.—(1) An employer contravenes this section if the employer takes any action for the sole or main purpose of—

(a) inducing a worker to give up membership of a relevant scheme without becoming an active member of another relevant scheme within the period prescribed under section 2(3), or

(b) inducing a jobholder to give a notice under section 8 without becoming an active member of a qualifying scheme within the period prescribed under section 2(3).

(2) Section 35 applies in relation to a contravention of this section as it applies in relation to a contravention of section 2(1), and sections 38 to 44 apply accordingly.

(3) But the Regulator may not issue a compliance notice in respect of a contravention of this section unless the contravention occurred within the prescribed period before—

(a) the time when a complaint was made to the Regulator about the contravention, or

(b) the time when the Regulator informed the employer of an investigation of the contravention, if no complaint was made before that time.

(4) A compliance notice in respect of a contravention of this section may direct the employer to take or refrain from taking specified steps in order to prevent the contravention being repeated.

(5) For the purposes of this section a worker gives up membership of a relevant scheme if the worker—

(a) takes action or makes an omission by which the worker, without ceasing to be employed by the employer, ceases to be an active member of the scheme, or

(b) requests or authorises the employer to take such action or to make such an omission.

(6) In this section, “relevant scheme” means—

(a) in relation to a jobholder, a qualifying scheme;

(b) in relation to a worker to whom section 9 applies, a scheme which satisfies the requirements of that section.