Pensions

Employees’ pension rights in relation to old age, invalidity or survivors benefits under supplementary company or inter-company pension schemes do not transfer to the new employment.

However, where there is a pension scheme in operation in the original employer’s business at the time of the transfer, the Regulation provides that

1. if the scheme is an occupational pension scheme within the meaning of the Pensions Act, 1990, then the protections afforded by the Pensions Act apply to any such scheme, and
2. in respect of the pension schemes which do not come within the remit of the Pensions Act, the new employer must ensure that rights conferring immediate or prospective entitlement to old age benefits, including survivor’s benefits, are protected.

Should any complaint arise in relation to a scheme to which the Pensions Act does not apply, it should be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission under the Regulations.