Pensions when recruiting: assess commitment assumption or value transfer?

A new employee brings documents from their previous workplace pension. The employer asks whether it can “simply take over the contract”. Your pension team has a specific advisory task: establish whether the discussion concerns assuming an existing commitment or transferring a value, and which information is missing. Distinguishing these routes early lets the employer commission an appropriate assessment and give the employee an understandable response.

Turn “bringing a pension” into a precise question

Ask what the employee actually requested. Do they want an existing arrangement continued as unchanged as possible? Have they received a transfer-value statement? Or do they initially want to know which options the new company can examine? These wishes lead to different investigations. A passing question during recruitment should not automatically become a commission to arrange new insurance or replace an old agreement.

Record the starting situation with clear references to the documents. Which provision is identified, which former employer made the commitment and what current information is available? Distinguish the employee’s account from a document’s contents. If they say “the pension comes with me”, record that as their wish or previous information. Professional classification follows only when the necessary basis is available.

Clarify the timing too. When did the previous employment end and when does the new job begin? These dates may matter without your already confirming an individual entitlement or deadline. Ask specifically about an uncertain date. The responsible specialist can then see the time basis being assessed and the information still needed before recommending a route.

Distinguish commitment assumption from value transfer

Section 4(2) BetrAVG distinguishes two routes after employment ends, by agreement between the former employer, new employer and employee: assumption of the commitment or transfer of a vested entitlement’s value accompanied by a new commitment of equivalent value. Explain this distinction directly. Otherwise, “examining portability” does not identify what would be assumed or transferred and which new agreement is being considered.

For assumption of a commitment, the existing commitment is central. Establish the obligation it creates and which documents describe it. An insurance summary may be relevant without containing every foundation the employer needs. Commission assessment of the actual commitment and necessary agreements. The employer should understand the existing obligation a possible assumption would concern.

For a value transfer, the transfer value and intended new commitment are central. Ask which statement of that value exists and its reference date. A figure in a document does not alone explain the new provision’s benefits. The former starting position and new benefit scope must be connected clearly. Help the employer request that comparison before promising apparently simple contract portability.

Under section 4(6) BetrAVG, full transfer of the transfer value extinguishes the former employer’s commitment. Include that consequence when explaining the route. Do not present the old and new provision as two additional benefits acquired alongside each other. Obtain an explanation of the agreement supporting the new provision and when the particular transaction’s requirements are satisfied.

Have the conditional statutory right assessed specifically

Section 4(3) BetrAVG provides, subject to its conditions, for requesting a transfer within one year after employment ends. It names provision through a pension fund, pension institution or direct insurance and a transfer-value limit linked to the general statutory pension insurance contribution ceiling. Explain these conditions together. They do not mean every previous contract must be accepted unchanged by the new employer.

Where an employee invokes this right, its actual applicability belongs in the responsible specialist’s assessment. Implementation route, dates, value and relevant rules are examined. Collective-agreement variations must also be considered under section 19 BetrAVG. Define the legal question in your offer instead of making blanket promises that portability is always possible or always excluded.

Keep a possible agreement and a conditional statutory request as separate assessment routes. One party’s willingness does not automatically answer whether a right exists. Conversely, mentioning a possible right does not explain implementation within the company. Identify the route to be examined and who supplies the required information or declarations. The later recommendation then remains grounded in the actual situation.

Obtain the right information rather than contract names alone

Section 4a(2) BetrAVG provides, on request, for transfer-value information for transfers under section 4(3). On request, the new employer or provider must explain the retirement benefit that would arise from that value and whether disability or survivors’ provision would exist. This comparison directly helps the decision. Have the responsible parties supply the relevant information rather than calculating missing benefits yourself from a value.

Read each statement’s scope carefully. Does it cover retirement provision or also other benefits relevant to the case? What assumptions underlie the new presentation? Are its date and transaction identifiable? You do not need to guess another party’s contractual benefits. A precise question helps more than a table silently marking open items as unchanged.

Information under section 4a must be understandable, provided in text form and within a reasonable period. Do not turn this into a promise of a specific number of processing days. For your own collaboration, agree a response trigger, such as receipt of the requested statement. Explain which decision can then be prepared. This provides a clear next step without inventing another organisation’s process or response date.

Include the new employer’s actual process

Alongside the transfer assessment, the employer needs the case related to its own pension system. Establish which model actually exists and who is responsible for handling the matter. Ask more than an insurer’s name. The relevant issue is which new commitment or assumption is being examined. Two documents naming the same provider do not establish a suitable design.

For an initial process discussion, describe the case without unnecessary personal detail. Individual documents should be supplied only to the extent required by the particular assessment, through a suitable protected channel. Do not ask for health information in a general new-starter list. Where an additional individual issue matters, allocate it to separate professional clarification. HR can then organise the task without circulating confidential information widely.

Agree who translates the professional response into company processing. Which confirmed information does payroll need? Who explains the result to the employee? Which document records the actual agreement? These tasks follow from your particular commission. Do not present a prepared payroll list as a completed transfer. It organises work but cannot replace the required information and decisions.

A fictional new starter with two open routes

The following case is expressly fictional.

An employer receives a current summary of a new employee’s previous direct insurance arrangement. She wants to know whether provision can continue through the new company. HR asks for your support and initially proposes simply adopting the previous contribution amount. Your team notices that the summary does not fully describe the required employer decision. You first agree professional assessment of the two routes potentially relevant to the case.

For assumption, the existing commitment and necessary agreement documents are requested. For a possible value transfer, you establish which transfer-value and new-provision information is available or needed. The employer receives two clearly identified assessment subjects. The parties’ willingness and any applicable statutory right are considered separately. The previous contribution figure establishes neither the new benefits nor an already completed assumption.

Once the necessary statements arrive, the responsible specialist will explain the routes actually available. The employee can then understand the assessed option’s effects on her provision; the employer can decide on its described commission. Until then, general onboarding remains distinct from the particular pension decision. HR has a manageable result: the open issue, its responsible handler and the trigger for the next response.

Offer a defined assessment commission

Describe whether you handle document intake, coordination of required statements or a specified professional assessment yourself. Identify the included scope and necessary qualifications. Allocate any further legal or tax assessment to the responsible professional. The employer can commission a concrete service instead of assuming an undefined comprehensive task under the word “takeover”.

Record the assessed starting situation, routes actually considered and remaining conditions. A recommendation should identify the current documents used. If a transfer value or offer basis changes, it should be clear which part needs reassessment. Existing documents and confirmed statements remain associated with their particular versions. This prevents an earlier modelling assumption silently becoming the final decision basis after later additions.

The next step may be developing a specifically available route or first obtaining missing information. Explain the deliverable of each step. Before existing agreements are changed, clarify the chosen route’s necessary foundations and responsibilities. You can then accompany recruitment as a clearly defined advisory occasion and offer an understandable commission without promising unchecked contract portability.

New employer contacts for your pension support

The company pension leads page shows the actual offer and registration route to webRichtung Customer. The pension objective opens a conversation; you clarify particular recruitment or transfer cases personally. The current lead-order price appears before a binding order.