I've worked for the same (very very large) employer for 23 years.
It's been recently announced that one single contract is being brought in for all staff, we are going onto one set of T&C. It's in consultation period at the moment but appears to be a done deal.
As a long serving member of staff, the differences to my existing contract are pretty dramatic, the most major being:
- closure of my final salary pension scheme. A new DCS will be opened instead. The effect this has on my anticipated pension is huge, my new forecast pension if I work another 20 years is about 2/3 of the last quote I received.
- I am currently entitled to 1 year sick pay, going down to 6mths
- losing 2 days holiday
I will be compensated financially for the holiday loss but not the first 2 changes.
Since it is such a huge organisation I am sure the legality of doing this must have been checked out thoroughly but I find it amazing that my employer can reduce their contribution to my pension (they currently contribute 25-30%, will go down to 8-16%) so much without even compensating me.
I do appreciate that my existing terms are exceptional, however they are my T&C and I would appreciate any comments how to respond, if it is reasonable to expect any improvement to the proposals or compensation for the reduction in benefits.
Essentially I guess I would like to know can they do this!
Thanks for reading!