The UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC) has accused employers of using FRS17, the new UK accounting standard, as well as changes in UK tax relief rules, to sabotage pension schemes.

In a new report, the TUC claims that the recent decline in final salary pension schemes is the first serious attempt to reduce pay and conditions for staff since the 1930s slump. The average cost to an employee of a change from a final salary pension scheme to an alternative scheme represents a pay cut of £40 (€65) a week. In addition, defined contribution schemes put the onus entirely on the employee to bear all the investment risk.