No contract from employer and no pension 4/5 months on

[rhubarbgin7]

Hi, I'm looking for advice for my DP who is getting really frustrated at this point. He has been self employed a lot and 4/5 months ago him and the group of lads he works for were took on permanently by his employer. He has tried to follow this up multiple times with employer but keeps getting role he has been busy and will sort it, but never does. I was under the understanding it was law for an employer to offer pension, but I work for the nhs and have never had any of these issues so my knowledge isn't great.

He's 30 now and with him being self employed mostly does not have a pension yet hence why it's so important, we are ttc in December and therefore if was important he had the security of a permanent job rather than self employment. Can anyone advise on where to go from here please/what are his rights, if any? His employer does not work on site but occasionally pops in so can be difficult to catch him face to face but even when he does he gets told the same thing.

Does he get payslips?

He should be offered a Workplace Pension scheme as a minimum, asuming employer meets the criteria. There is nothing to stop him having a private scheme as well.

He wasn't getting payslips as apparently employer had been sending them to the wrong email, the rest of the team have been getting them though, finally he has rectified that for the next payslip, we will see.

@LIZS do you know what the criteria would be?

Assuming he earns enough he should have been auto enrolled into a company pension. This can be deferred for up to 3 months (we use deferment for temp staff or staff on trial) but with deferment you must still be given the option to join early.

www.gov.uk/workplace-pensions/joining-a-workplace-pension

I think there is something about a minimum number of employees.

The minimum number of employees is 1!

Yes he meets the criteria, and there is around 5 of them at the moment. Any idea where to go from here?

Probably best to put it in an email, the request to join the pension. Then it's in writing.
Can he get hold of an email address for his boss, HR, anyone?

There is no HR, communication is usually via text, I am sure he will be able to get an email address so I'll advise him to email him

In the first instance I would email the employer asking what the arrangments for workplace pension are as he should have been given the option to join when he started and auto enrolled by now (assuming deferment).

If he gets no joy there is an online form on the Pensions Regulator website you can fill in to report non compliance.

Has he stopped his self employment completely now he's on the payroll? Sounds like a bit of blurring of lines here. Did he make self assessment tax returns in prior years.

He should also have a contract of employment in place from day 1 of his employment (new employment laws came in 6 April 2020)..

From ACAS: www.acas.org.uk/employment-law-changes-from-6-april-2020

Workers now have the same right as employees to written terms (a ‘written statement of employment particulars’) from their employer.

Employers must provide their workers and employees with their written statement on or before their first day of employment, no matter how long they're employed for.

The written statement must include details about:

the hours and days of the week the worker or employee is required to work, and whether they may be varied and how
entitlements to any paid leave
any other benefits not covered elsewhere in the written statement
any probationary period
any training provided by the employer

Yes he has stopped self employment, he has done tax returns in the past. He doesn't even know how many holiday entitlements he has, last time he chased it up he was about to do a paid course his employer told him not to worry as he wouldn't of paid for the course if he wasn't planning on keeping him on, that's not the concern though! It's so frustrating. He works away in Scotland and none of the lads drive apart from him and the site manager so he picks them all up and drives them up there, they'd struggle without having to him to rely on so I've told him to be more firm.

I've just double checked with DP (he gets paid weekly) and he has said the payslips are still not sorted. Honestly it is a shambles.