TUPE Trasnfer - Employer Pension Contributions

I along with my colleague have just found out that we are going to be TUPE transferred into the Civil Service.

Currently I am working as a permanent member of staff, where my employer contributes a huge 17% into my pension pot, and I contribute 2%. (Final salary pension)

I'm struggling to find the answer to this question however - I'm reading conflicting information regarding employer pension contributions. Will my new employer - the civil service, match my previous employers contributions, or will I be worse off, as the current scheme that they run requires employees to contribute 6% which they match?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    edited 10 March 2016 at 3:27PM
    What kind of pension is it - defined contribution workplace scheme or not? And does your employer have to pay 17% contractually?
  • p00hsticks
    p00hsticks Posts: 12,672
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    yakyak wrote: »
    Currently I am working as a permanent member of staff, where my employer contributes a huge 17% into my pension pot, and I contribute 2%. (Final salary pension)

    If it's a final salary scheme, then your employer isn't actually putting in a fixed percentage - they're commiting to paying you a pension based on whatever your final salary is. They'll put in whatever the need to ensure that the pension fund being built up is sufficient to meet their future obligations, according to the regular audits and reviews of the scheme that should be taking place every few years.

    TUPE doesn't cover pensions.
    Depending on how long you've been with your current employer, you should have the opportunity to defer your existing pension with them.
    yakyak wrote: »
    Will my new employer - the civil service, match my previous employers contributions, or will I be worse off, as the current scheme that they run requires employees to contribute 6% which they match?

    Which particular scheme/part of the civil service is this ? As far as I'm aware the main civil service pension, introduced recently, is called ' alpha' and is a career average scheme. The employee contribution rate varies from 3% (if your salary is under £15k) to 8% (for salaries over £150k). The effective employer contribution to support the pension commitment is typically around 20% of the employees salry.

    http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/prospective-members-faq/
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    p00hsticks wrote: »
    If it's a final salary scheme, then your employer isn't actually putting in a fixed percentage - they're commiting to paying you a pension based on whatever your final salary is. They'll put in whatever the need to ensure that the pension fund being built up is sufficient to meet their future obligations, according to the regular audits and reviews of the scheme that should be taking place every few years.

    TUPE doesn't cover pensions.
    Depending on how long you've been with your current employer, you should have the opportunity to defer your existing pension with them.



    Which particular scheme/part of the civil service is this ? As far as I'm aware the main civil service pension, introduced recently, is called ' alpha' and is a career average scheme. The employee contribution rate varies from 3% (if your salary is under £15k) to 8% (for salaries over £150k). The effective employer contribution to support the pension commitment is typically around 20% of the employees salry.

    http://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/prospective-members-faq/

    There have been some changes in the law - in some cases pensions are covered by TUPE. maybe not for all that long, but certainly there are now some circumstances.
  • WobblyDog
    WobblyDog Posts: 512
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    Apologies for drifting off-topic, but do people TUPE *into* the Civil Service very often? That sounds like the sort of thing people in the private sector approaching retirement might dream of.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    Not often but it can happen. I've seen it happen with a couple of quango's which were absorbed into the civil service.
  • marlot
    marlot Posts: 4,925
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    WobblyDog wrote: »
    Apologies for drifting off-topic, but do people TUPE *into* the Civil Service very often? That sounds like the sort of thing people in the private sector approaching retirement might dream of.
    Could be a fair bit, as old IT contracts come to an end.

    eg. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/05/hmrc_aspire_replacement_programme/
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