Employer Forcing Pension Reference Wage Freeze

ian78_2

I hope soemone can advise on this. My employer is forcing a change to the pension scheme that I have been paying into for 23 years so that instead of referencing the average on the best two years of the last ten in employment at retirement it will now references my salary on April 2013. This effectively reduces my pension worth by between 30% and 50%.
As my employer is not allowed to make changes to the pension scheme without the agreement of the pension scheme trustees, they are forcing it though by asking each employee to either accept the "proposed" change, or reject it. If an emplyee rejects it, their actual salary will be frozen now. This of course makes it no choice at all. Also, the form we have been given to either accept or reject states that if anyone accepts but writes that this is being done under duress will be considerd to be rejecting the proposal and have their salary frozen now.
Can anyone tell me, is such bullying legal? Is this breach of contract, the one I took out saying if I pay so much in I get a defined benefit at retirement?
Can anyone suggest a course of action?

Fabius

Hi Ian,

A bit more information is needed to be able to help:

What is the scheme's normal retirement age and when do you reach it?

How have you established that reduction figure you quote?

Initial thoughts are that it sounds dubious.

Jack_Griffin

You need to speak to a legal advisor, are you or any of your colleagues in a union?

Fabius is dead right too, you need to be sure that the changes have the effects you describe, I'd say you need a pre & post change illustration of benefits at the very least.

xylophone

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/workplace-pension-schemes/money-purchase-schemes/employer-reducing-contributions

Start here?