Hi,
Not sure if posting in the right place
My place of work was sold to a franchise in September 2015, during the TUPE meetings I asked about where I stood with regards to my pension rights, as my pension was an different from the one provided the employees due to how long ago I started my pension. My pension was a stakeholder pension which my previous company paid 6% of my pensionable salary every month. I was told by the company taking over that they would try to work with my current pension provider at the time or sort a pension with similar benefits, it has now been 7 months and all I have been told is it is still being sorted ??, I am unsure who to go to for advice as I am now becoming concerned that nothing has been sorted. I am making contact with the company who provided my company pension to see what is happening their end.
Other than the company who provided my company pension, who else could I go to, as we do not have a HR department who I can go to for advice.
Thank you for reading
Jill
Replies
Hi Jill
That's great news, hope it all goes well.
Regards
Jane
Great to hear you have news on when it will be sorted.
All the best
Sarah
Hi Jill
Who undertook the consultation aspect of the TUPE, can you raise this with them. Also where is your line manager on this. Something to consider is to put them on notice if the issues is not resolved within a certain timeframe then you will have no option but to raise a grievance, as effectivley you are suffering a detriment as a result of the TUPE. But of course I would exhaust all options to resolve this informally first.
Good luck
Sarah
I am not an expert in TUPE but I believe that pensions are protected under TUPE for as long as you remain with your new company and the 'new company' should provide you with a pension that is the same (not similar) to the one you previously received and it should have been set up so that it continued as soon as the transfer took place so that there were no breaks in your pension.
The company where I work did a TUPE transfer last year of NHS staff to our organisation and they still receive exactly the same as they would have if they had remained in the NHS and it was all set up before the transfer date.
If I were in your position I would contact your local ACAS branch and discuss this with them as they will be able to give you legal advice (free) and guide you on what you should do.
Hope this helps
Regards
Jane
Hi Jane
I found this useful summary, I hope this helps. Sarah
What is the minimum the buyer must provide in relation to pensions?
The buyer must provide a minimal level of pension provision (set out in the right-hand column of the table below). The level of required provision varies according to the seller's pension arrangements available to the transferring employees (see the left-hand column of the table).
Transferor's scheme
Transferee's obligation
Occupational pension scheme is either a DB occupational scheme or a DC occupational pension scheme to which the transferor is either:
Obliged to pay contributions in respect of the employee.
Not obliged to pay contributions but has done so anyway.
If the transferee intends to provide defined benefits it must provide that the employee is, or is eligible to be, an active member of a DB occupational pension scheme that Provides benefits that are of overall equivalent value to the contributions made to the scheme, where the employer's element of those contributions is at least 6% of pensionable pay and the employee is not required to contribute more than 6% of pensionable pay.
It is not clear whether these requirements must be met on a member by member basis or for the scheme overall so in practice this alternative is little used.
Before 6 April 2014.
If the transferee intended to provide money purchase benefits, it must have provided either:
That the employee was, or was eligible to become, an active member of an occupational money purchase pension scheme to which the transferee matched the employees' contributions up to a maximum of 6% of basic pay.
OR
Contributions to a stakeholder pension scheme, of which the employee was a member, up to 6% of basic pay, or have made an offer to the employee of such contributions to a scheme of which the employee was eligible to be a member, without withdrawing that offer.
From 6 April 2014.
If the transferee intends to provide money purchase benefits, it must provide either:
That the employee is, or is eligible to be, an active member of an occupational money purchase pension scheme to which the transferee either:
Matches the employees' contributions up to a maximum of 6% of basic pay. OR
Matches the transferor employer's contributions, where it had been under an obligation to make them, provided these had been solely for the purposes of producing money purchase benefits.
Contributions to a stakeholder pension scheme, of which the employee is a member, that either:
Match the employees' contributions up to a maximum of 6% of basic pay. OR
Match the transferor employer's contributions, where it had been under an obligation to make them, provided these had been solely for the purposes of producing money purchase benefits.
An offer, which it does not withdraw, of contributions to a stakeholder pension scheme of which the employee is eligible to be a member that either:
Match the employees' contributions up to a maximum of 6% of basic pay. OR
Match the transferor employer's contributions, where it had been under an obligation to make them, provided these had been solely for the purposes of producing money purchase benefits.
Access to a stakeholder pension scheme or group personal pension (GPP) scheme to which the transferor contributes.
Any contractual obligation to contribute to a personal pension scheme (including stakeholder schemes and GPP) will transfer to the buyer.
Access to a stakeholder pension scheme but the transferor does not contribute.
No obligation transfers. The statutory obligation to offer access to a stakeholder pension scheme was abolished on 1 October 2012 with the introduction of the auto-enrolment obligations on employers under the Pensions Act 2008 (PA 2008)