Tag archives: pension

UK Pensions: Regulator’s annual DB funding statement urges collaboration to meet COVID-19 challenges

Photo of Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in UK
  On April 30, 2020, the Pensions Regulator published its 2020 funding statement for defined benefit (DB) schemes with valuation dates between September 22, 2019, and September 21, 2020. However, these COVID-19 times are challenging for all businesses, and the effects of the pandemic are relevant to all DB schemes. The statement urges collaboration between … Continue reading

UK Pensions – Could ethical veganism impact on future pension fund investments?

Photo of Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
UK Pensions – Could ethical veganism impact on future pension fund investments? January 2020 In an employment tribunal preliminary hearing on 3 January 2020, Judge Robin Postle ruled that ethical veganism satisfies the tests required for it to be a philosophical belief, with the result that it was protected under the Equality Act 2010. For … Continue reading

UK Pensions: Paying for the sins of the fathers – how far back must you make up pension underpayments?

Photo of Giannis WaymouthBy Giannis Waymouth on Posted in UK
  Trustees of UK pension schemes which include old guaranteed minimum pensions have got a bit of a dilemma on their hands at the moment. They have to equalise benefits between men and women to paper over the inherent inequality in the GMPs themselves, which means correcting past underpayments.  There are many questions raised by … Continue reading

UK Pensions Regulator: a new rule-making ability?

Photo of Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
On 16 May 2019, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a periodic, government-conducted review which examines the continuing need, efficiency and good governance of the Pensions Regulator (TPR). This tailored review was conducted between August and November 2018 and led by Jamey Johnson, the former Chief Officer for Pension Wise (which is now … Continue reading

BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent

Photo of Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent The Court of Appeal (CA) has unanimously ruled that a retrospective amendment to the deed and rules of the BIC UK Pension Scheme (the Scheme) was invalid. Last year, the High Court had ruled that whilst the … Continue reading

Equality of treatment is not applicable within a group

Photo of Judicaël FouquetBy Judicaël Fouquet on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Aside from the particular legislation prohibiting discrimination of employees on specific grounds such as age or gender, the French employment code does not provide for specific provisions concerning a more general principle which require the avoidance of inequality of treatment in the workplace. However, case law has progressively established this principle, particularly concerning remuneration, working … Continue reading

Pension Benefits Should Not be Deducted from Pay in Lieu of Reasonable Notice: Supreme Court of Canada

Global Workplace InsiderBy Michael Torrance on Posted in Canada
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in IBM Canada Limited v Richard Waterman, [2013] 3 S.C.R. 985, considered whether employees’ pension benefits should be deducted from damages for wrongful dismissal. The majority concluded, on the facts of this case, that no such deduction should occur. The company dismissed a 65-year-old employee without cause after 42 years of service. The … Continue reading

Company pensions need to be adjusted to inflation

Global Workplace InsiderBy Andreas Reuther on Posted in Europe, Germany
Under German law, employers are obliged to check regularly (at least every three years) whether benefit payments from company pensions ought to be adjusted for inflation. In their check they may consider the company’s economic situation. Employers are not obliged to increase pension payments if they believe (and such belief is reasonable with a sufficient … Continue reading

Do Employers have a duty to inform about occupational pension schemes?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Andreas Reuther on Posted in Europe, Germany
In Germany, employees have the statutory right to ask their employers to pay part of their future earnings – up to 4 % of the relevant contribution assessment ceiling for the statutory pension fund – into an occupational pension scheme through the conversion of earnings into pension contributions. The German Federal Labour Court recently ruled … Continue reading

Social Insurance in China

Global Workplace InsiderBy Grace Ye on Posted in Asia Pacific, China, General
Having developed over decades, the social insurance scheme in China has been gradually unified nationwide and is now primarily regulated by the PRC Social Insurance Law (SIL), which came into effect in 2011. Prior to the SIL, the social insurance scheme in China was regulated by various administrative regulations. The SIL consolidated the social insurance … Continue reading

Doing business in Canada – Employee benefits and pensions

Photo of Geneviève Lay (CA)By Geneviève Lay (CA) on Posted in Canada, Québec
Last week, we covered one issue that might be of interest to those wanting to do business in Canada: employment contracts.  This week, we would like to highlight another section of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada’s guide to Doing business in Canada: employee benefits and pensions. In Canada, employee benefits and retirement income programs are provided through … Continue reading
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