New regulations will be introduced to protect the pensions of employees working for companies that are taken over after a consultation period.
Pensions minister Malcolm Wicks said that some firms scrapped the pension schemes of firms they had taken over.
Wicks was introducing a consultation document that sets out the requirements for pension provision where there has been a business transfer to which the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations apply.
“These regulations provide the final detail of the requirements for employer pension provision which we set out in the Pensions Act 2004,” he said.
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“Our proposals will ensure that for the first time employees [who have] access to occupational pension provision prior to a business transfer will have a prescribed level of employer pension provision afterwards too.”
The consultation period will run until 21 January 2005. Depending on the response, the Government will seek implementation of the regulations in April.
