Final salary /misconduct

geelamch

A colleague at work has been suspended without pay for misconduct. He is on a final salary scheme with around thirty years accrued.he has been advised that he will probably be dismissed with loss of pension.
What exactly does this entail? What does he lose?

dunstonh

Normally, being sacked does not result in loss of pension. However, it is an option that some firms have for extreme misconduct.

Who advised him that he would lose him pension? (employer, legal adviser, workmates, HR etc)

atush

If you are dismissed for gross misconduct, then you don't just lose your job- you lose your pension too.

In his case, he should contact his union and get help fighting it (or try to get the charges reduced so he loses the job but not the pension).

What did he do?

mgdavid

this will be covered by the specific company's employemnt contract Terms & Conditions, and the Pension Scheme Rules. Without knowing what they say I think impossible to comment.
Hoever, more generally, if the misconduct is minor, then an appeal to senior HR manager/director will often allow a resignation rather than dismissal, thus preserving benefits.

Prothet_of_Doom

I don't get it. You pay into a pension scheme and you can't have the money ? Should they not take final salary, as the day that they finished with a pro-rata reduction because they haven't reached 65 yet.

What would his pension look like if he had just (or been allowed to) resigned ?

lvader

I never paid a penny into my final salary pension.

geelamch

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I don't get it. You pay into a pension scheme and you can't have the money ? Should they not take final salary, as the day that they finished with a pro-rata reduction because they haven't reached 65 yet.

What would his pension look like if he had just (or been allowed to) resigned ?

His resignation was refused due to relevant authorities investigation

geelamch

dunstonh wrote: »

Normally, being sacked does not result in loss of pension. However, it is an option that some firms have for extreme misconduct.

Who advised him that he would lose him pension? (employer, legal adviser, workmates, HR etc)

The union have advised him of this

John1993_2

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I don't get it. You pay into a pension scheme and you can't have the money ? Should they not take final salary, as the day that they finished with a pro-rata reduction because they haven't reached 65 yet.

What would his pension look like if he had just (or been allowed to) resigned ?

Haven't you seen high profile cases in finance in recent years? People have even been calling for it; "Take his pension, he's been dishonest, he shouldn't have it".

This isn't something new, and, as I say, people even call for it to happen.

Andy_L

This is a (semi-)urban myth.

You can lose your pension if:


1. Its a public-sector pension & the Minister says you have brought the department into such disrespect that public confidence has been destroyed


2. A public sector pension & you've been sent down under the official secrets act/treason for 5+(?) years


2. You have been convicted of an offence that has cost your employer money (eg arson or embezzlement) & they can recover their losses from the value of your pension


As far as 1 & 2 go its unlikely to happen (I've never heard of a case) as the courts are likely to rule it illegal due to the arbitrary nature of the punishment & deferred-pay classification of of pensions

Andy_L

John1993 wrote: »

Haven't you seen high profile cases in finance in recent years? People have even been calling for it; "Take his pension, he's been dishonest, he shouldn't have it".

This isn't something new, and, as I say, people even call for it to happen.

people have been asking for it - doesn't mean it happens. Also many of those schemes aren't "pensions" in the legal sense as they breach various bits of pension legislation but are contractual payments instead which may or may not be subject to various conditions