Nest · CAS-108806-G8P9

CAS-108806-G8P9

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Miss S

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondents Hospitality Recruitment Group Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary Miss S has complained that the Employer, despite deducting contributions from her pay, has failed to pay them into the Scheme.

The missing contributions amounted to £680.18.

Background information, including submissions from the parties The sequence of events is not in dispute, so I have only set out the salient points.

In May 2022, Miss S began her employment with the Employer.

Between June 2022 to August 2022 and June 2023, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

On 2 August 2023, Miss S brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Miss S provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from June 2022 to August 2022 and June 2023, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £680.18. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

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Adjudicator’s Opinion

• The Adjudicator stated that TPO’s normal approach, in cases such as these, was to seek agreement from all parties on the facts of the complaint, including the dates and amounts of contributions involved. She said that, as the Employer had not responded to any of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Miss S.

• The Adjudicator said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Miss S. So, in the Adjudicator’s Opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Miss S’ salary, but had not been paid into the Scheme. In addition, the Employer had not paid any of the employer contributions that were due over the same period. As a result of its maladministration, Miss S was not in the financial position she ought to be in.

• In the Adjudicator’s view, Miss S had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Adjudicator was of the opinion that an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

2 CAS-108806-G8P9 Directions

(i) pay Miss S £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience she has experienced;

(ii) Miss S’ Miss S

;

(iii) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Miss S’ Scheme account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

(iv) pay any reasonable administration fee should the Scheme administrator charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation.

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

16 July 2024

3 CAS-108806-G8P9 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

30 June 2022 £95.87 £71.91

31 July 2022 £119.87 £89.91

31 August 2022 £119.87 £89.91

30 June 2023 £53.05 £39.79

Total amount: £680.18 £388.66 £291.52

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