TUPE and personal pensions

Underthehill

My employer is in the middle of consulting its staff regarding the TUPE service provision transfer to a logistics company who will run the warehouse that I work in. This should happen in early 2020. At the moment there are two pension schemes in operation; one is a defined benefit career average scheme that is no longer open to new employees and is an occupational pension. The other is a defined contribution group personal pension scheme that my employer set up to satisfy Auto Enrolment rules.
There are two levels offered with the personal pension either - employee 4%, employer 9% or employee 6%, employer 11%. The employee is free to choose either one.
This is a salary sacrifice scheme. I understand that occupational pensions are 'carved out' of TUPE but personal pensions are not. There are a number of employees who are currently benefiting from 11% employer's pension contributions in the personal pension scheme. They are wondering if they could end up in the situation where the current members who have the occupational pension defined benefit average salary scheme have this frozen and are moved on to a defined contribution scheme where the new employer has to only contribute 6%, whereas their personal pensions fall under TUPE rules so the new employer has to keep paying them 11%.

The contribution rates I mention above for the personal pension are not stipulated in the contract of employment. They are however detailed on the company's internal website. There is also a statement on the website stating:
'Taking part in salary exchange is a change to your contractual terms and conditions of your employment effective from your date of employment'
Does this mean that even though the levels of pension contributions are not in the contract of employment itself that they are a part of the terms and conditions and as such will transfer under TUPE?
The new employer wants to reduce the personal pension employer contribution levels when they take over. Understandbly people are not at all happy about this. Are they able to do this or do they have to keep paying the same employer's contribution levels?

bowlhead99

The 'change in your contractual terms of employment' is that you are accepting that you earn a lower salary and the money representing the difference between that lower (due to sacrifice) salary and the original headline salary will be contributed to a pension scheme instead. That's the way you choose to make 'your' pension contribution, and they allow you to sacrifice your salary to do it because it's efficient for both of you.

However, the fact that you voluntarily changed your contractual terms and conditions of employment by saying you were happy to take (e.g.) 4% or 6% less salary and have that 4 or 6% be made as a pension contribution by the employer, doesn't mean the employment contract (after being modified for the sacrifice arrangement) actually now says how much they are going to pay in beyond the 4% or 6% that you sacrificed. So, reference to 'contractual conditions of employment' may be a red herring.

If you are collectively going through a TUPE process, won't the employer provide access to an employment lawyer who could clarify your rights?