There has been some discussion in recent weeks about the possibility of the Government providing occupational pension schemes with a "compliance window" in which to comply with the age discrimination requirements. This would have allowed schemes to introduce amendments for a period after the 1 December 2006 implementation date with no requirement to level up any discriminatory benefits in respect of the period between 1 December and the effective date of the change.
DWP have now confirmed that there will not be a compliance window as "such a provision would, in effect, be allowing unjustifiable discriminatory practice to continue for a period of time after which, due to our European obligations, we are required to prevent it".
This means that schemes need to make any necessary age discrimination amendments prior to 1 December 2006 or deal with the implications of levelling up benefits in respect of amendments made after that date.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
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The original publication date for this article was 20/11/2006.