Employment, Pension and Benefits

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Briefings in English - 2012

In February, the European Commission issued a white paper, An Agenda for Adequate, Safe and Sustainable Pensions. This puts forward policy initiatives that are designed to support EU member states in the reform of their pension systems. Following on from proposals in a green paper published in July 2010, the measures aim to allow employees to work longer and save more for their retirement. Among other matters, the white paper addresses issues such as raising the average retirement age, the portability of pensions and the protection of pension rights in the event of insolvency. In this briefing we look at the practical implications of the proposals. (April 2012)

The government issued a consultation paper yesterday setting out fundamental changes to the framework for directors’ remuneration for listed companies incorporated in the UK. These principally relate to binding shareholder votes on forward-looking remuneration policy for directors and exit payments to directors to the extent that they exceed one year’s base salary. This briefing considers the key proposals on shareholder votes set out in the consultation paper and the practical impact on listed companies. (March 2012)

Special rules came into force on 30 December 2005 for occupational pension schemes operating cross-border in another EU member state. This briefing looks at the main impact of these provisions and at the UK Pensions Regulator’s approach to implementing them. (February 2012)

Our briefing No. 233 outlined the position for occupational pension schemes that are caught by the special rules affecting cross-border schemes operating in another EU member state. The legislation imposes more onerous obligations on such schemes, in particular on funding. Under the legislation, an employee who is seconded to work outside the UK, but within the EU or EEA, does not count as being a ‘European member’ and so will not, on their own, require a scheme to become authorised and approved. This briefing looks at the ‘secondee’ exemption in more detail and discusses TPR’s guidance. (February 2012)

With an occupational pension scheme, it can be important to know which company (often within a group) is the ‘employer’. Unfortunately, identifying an employer can be difficult, both as a factual matter and because interpreting the legislation can be difficult – there are three mutually inconsistent High Court decisions on this. In this briefing, we identify the legal issues. (February 2012)

The government has announced proposals that will make significant changes to the governance and disclosure of directors’ pay. Taken together, we think the proposals are pretty sensible, though their success depends on shareholders becoming more activist on director pay issues. But there is room for improvement – for example, having to boil down the value of each director’s package to one figure will grab a headline, but isn’t necessarily useful information for shareholders. Although the full details will not be available until the spring, this briefing summarises the proposals and our views on a number of the key issues. (January 2012)

Briefings in German - 2012

Der Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) hat mit einem Urteil entschieden, dass durch das Unionsrecht einem erfolglosen Bewerber kein Anspruch auf Auskunft ermöglicht wird, über die Qualifikation oder Einstellungsentscheidung tatsächlich eingestellter Mitbewerber informiert zu werden. Dieses Briefing erläutert die Hintergründe des Urteils und mögliche Folgen für die Praxis. (April 2012)

Der Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) hat am 23. April 2012 das Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG) erstmals auf den Geschäftsführer einer GmbH angewendet (Az.: II ZR 163/10). Nach der Entscheidung des BGH gilt das AGG auch für GmbH-Geschäftsführer, deren Anstellungsvertrag nicht verlängert wird. (April 2012)

In einer Entscheidung vom 20. März 2012 (9 AZR 529/10) hat das Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG) entschieden, dass die altersanhängige Staffelung der Urlaubsdauer im Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst (TVöD) eine unzulässige Altersdiskriminierung darstellt mit der Folge, dass auch jüngere Mitarbeiter Urlaub nach der höchsten Altersgruppe beanspruchen können. Die Entscheidung hat nicht nur Bedeutung für tarifvertragliche Altersstaffelungen der Urlaubsdauer, sondern auch für entsprechende arbeitsvertragliche Regelungen. Arbeitgeber sollten die im Unternehmen bestehenden Regelungen überprüfen und gegebenenfalls für die Zukunft anpassen. Ob sich aus einer unzulässigen Altersstaffelung auch Ansprüche für die Vergangenheit ergeben können, ist derzeit unklar. (März 2012)

Mit der Entscheidung vom 15. Dezember 2011 (2 AZR 42/10) hat das Bundesarbeitsgericht(BAG) bekräftigt, dass die Berücksichtigung des Lebensalters sowie die Altersgruppenbildung im Rahmen der Sozialauswahl im Einklang mit europäischen Richtlinien stehen und nicht gegen das europarechtliche Antidiskriminierungsverbot verstoßen. Dieses Briefing informiert Sie über die Entscheidung und deren Praxisfolgen. (Februar 2012)

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