You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Does anyone know their stuff about workplace pensions? I'd like to prove that my company did something that at least breaks the rules, and possibly the law.
My workplace pension has just been closed by my US employer without any prior notification. The reason is that they are setting up a new UK pension scheme for the 4 different UK entities within the company (all acquired via acquisitions over a 10 year period). We are currently waiting for them to set up the new scheme with the same provider but no details or dates have been shared with us to date. April's pension contribution were taken from my salary payment but are now floating around in the ether. I expect the new scheme will be set up soon and backdated too.
It makes sense to combine 4 disparate pension schemes into 1 scheme but to do this without any notification must be against the rules. It's just a crappy way to treat staff. We only found out when the pension company sent a letter about the closure of the scheme we've had for over 9years.
Is there a website out there that explains the rules so I can prove to the morons in HR in the US that they messed up big time? By the way they don't seem to think it's a big deal and are brushing it off as something that just happens
Assume you have started here...? https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/
Do you have the old scheme rules?
What does it say in your contract about the pension scheme? Anything?
Thanks
My contract is 20 years old and we've been acquired twice since then but my contract of employment has not been changed. No mention of pension rules in it. Employee contributions were optional back then
OK. Do you know who the trustees of the scheme are?
guidance for employers here..
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers/managing-a-scheme/closing-your-scheme
We're with Aviva and the new scheme will be with Aviva but we don't know when it's starting
There is a duty to consult if there are more than 50 people in the scheme. (60 day period) However the penalties are pretty small in the big scheme of things (up to £50k) and the regulator might just an improvement notice and ask them to fix what they did wrong.
So based on the limited info above it would appear there has been a failure to consult on the closure of the scheme. The question is how much fuss you now want to make over it.
I've had it before where they've transferred the whole pension scheme from one provider to another without any consultation. I think it reduced costs to the employer at the expense of the employee benefits. Whether they were allowed to is another matter. In your case \i would think they are on dodgy ground taking pension contributions from your salary if they haven't been transferred into another scheme. Possibly illegal deduction from earnings and may also have tax implications as the contribution will have been removed prior to the tax being calculated but it's not (yet) gone into the pension pot.
thanks everyone
I called MoneyHelper and they looked into it for me. Apparently the company are under no legal obligation to consult the employees unless the employers' contribution to the new scheme is going to be reduced. If it remains at 5% then failure to consult the individuals is just bad manners.
Furthermore they are under no obligation to ensure that the new scheme does not have higher fees and they do not have to provide a way to pool the old and new schemes. In summary it's just really shitty behaviour and disrespectful to the staff.
On a separate note the pensions regulator website is clearly a portal for companies not individuals so everything is framed in that way. As a consumer it is very difficult to get clear information on this, even the Money Helper people were struggling.