LRD guides and handbook May 2019

Law at Work 2019 - the trade union guide to employment law

Chapter 12

Early retirement benefits





[ch 12: page 453]

Unlike pensions, early retirement provisions and pension enhancements triggered by dismissal before retirement age (for example, accelerated pension benefits on redundancy) do transfer. This is because they are not “old-age, invalidity or survivors’ benefits” within the meaning of the Acquired Rights Directive. This was confirmed in a landmark case brought by UNISON concerning rights for over-50s:





An NHS scheme entitled redundant employees aged over 50 to an early retirement pension. The ECJ ruled that early retirement benefits are not “old-age, invalidity or survivors’ benefits” and are therefore not covered by the pensions exclusion. Instead, these contract terms transfer to the new employer. 





Beckmann v Dynamco Whicheloe Macfarlane [2002] All ER 5





www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2002/C16400.html

The Beckmann case was followed in Martin and others v South Bank University Case C-4/01 [2004] IRLR 74. These rulings apply to pensions in both the public and the private sector (Proctor & Gamble Limited v SCA [2012] EWHC 125). Early retirement benefits that are triggered by ill-health probably do not transfer to the new employer under TUPE. This is because "invalidity benefits" are specifically excluded from the transfer by the Acquired Rights Directive.