Can company cut pention contirbution without agreement in writting?

[gribr]

(Not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this..)

The company i work for announced to all the staff that as part of a further cost savings plan that it was stopping its contributions to employees pensions. Previously when they announced a pay cut they had to get each person to sign an agreement to the pay reduction before they could implement the cut for that employee (which i believe is the law?). For the pension contribution cut they didnt do this, they just implemented it after announcing it. The pension contribution is written into the employee's contract as part of the remuneration package. Was it legal or should they also have had to get employee signatures?

 

[LDFerguson]

I'm sure there are HR and/or legal people on Askaboutmoney who can give a proper answer as to the correct procedure for implementing a reduction in pension contributions. But I suspect the difference is that while pay is a fundamental part of your job, employer pension contributions are a perk. There's no legal obligation on an employer to pay anything into an employee's pension. Any that do make employer contributions do so voluntarily.

 

[boaber]

There's no legal obligation on an employer to pay anything into an employee's pension. Any that do make employer contributions do so voluntarily.

The employer has to make a "meaningful" contribution to the scheme. Question is, what's meaningful? It could be the costs of setting up the scheme, paying the cost of risk benefits, or maybe 1/10th of the total pension contributions.

The scheme rules would determine whether the employer can cease contributions - but in my experience they can.

 

[LDFerguson]

The employer has to make a "meaningful" contribution to the scheme.

Sorry - didn't phrase myself too well. If the employer sets up an Occupational Pension Scheme, they must make a meaningful contribution. If they set up a group of PRSAs they don't have to make any contribution at all.