employment contract and pension changes

[louse12]

Hello,

My company is changing its pension schemes (DB>DC).

My question relates to wording in my employment contract which states:

'Your current pension arrangements will remain unchanged.'

The original intent of this statement was to clarify my pension benefits would remain unchanged when moving roles within the company a few years ago. I however wondered if there may be an argument, given the ambiguous wording, that the pension changes could be at odds with the wording in my employment contract?

If for instance it had read for e.g. 'you will remain on the same pension scheme' there would have been no grounds to challenge that the changes to the scheme would affect me as an individual.

[ULA]

The wording as stated refers to your current pension arrangements remaining unchanged and given this statement was made at the time you moved roles, then my view is that it was related to that specific event.

An employer can change pension providers however there is a process to go through. The most common procedure to change an existing pension scheme requires the agreement of both the employer and the scheme's trustees to the change. Where the trustees' agreement is required, they must consider the impact any change will have on the scheme's members. There should also be a period of consultation with scheme members, however in changing provider they cannot make changes to the pension rights that members have already built up in a scheme.