Section 54 — Pensions Act 2008: Inducements

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 with effect from—

i the day after the membership is given up, or ii a day within the prescribed period (if a period is prescribed) , or b inducing a jobholder to give a notice under section 8 without becoming an active member of a qualifying scheme with effect from—

i the day on which the jobholder became an active member of the scheme to which the notice relates, or ii a day within the prescribed period (if a period is prescribed) .

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.