Judicial Pension Schemes

When the Government decided to change the judicial pension scheme in April 2015, they allowed for a transitional provision which saw judges aged 58 or over, protected from the changes. Judges aged between 55-57 were also protected, but for only for a limited amount of time, not indefinitely.

The benefits offered in the revised pension packages were far less attractive than those previously offered. In order to put this into a financial context, the highest earning Judges would have needed to pay in more than an additional £30,000 annually in order to access the same level of benefit they had before.

It prompted more than 200 Judges to claim they had been discriminated against because of their age.  As well as this, they also claimed there was indirect gender and race discrimination owing to the likelihood that there are younger Judges who are more likely to be female or from different ethnicities.

A spokesperson from the law firm that represented the judges commented: “This is a great victory for our clients, many of whom sit alongside older judges who were appointed some years after them but who are, in effect, paid more purely because they are older.”

Lawson-West Employment Solicitor, Vaishali Thakerar, comments: “Employers are not able to change their employees pension packages without a considerable consultation period. It is unacceptable to offer staff of different ages different benefits.”

If you would like to speak to one of our expert team about your employment contract please telephone either 0116 212 1000 or 01858 445 480.

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