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LATEST UPDATE ON PENSIONS. by Paul Housego December 2011
Usually I write a piece about something that has just happened - a new case that has implications for the industry, or a current issue. This one is, for many readers, about something that is years ahead. But don't stop reading, for it is important and this issue may need a lot of planning - it won't do to let it creep up on you. It is pensions. The Government doesn't want to have to pay income support to people of pension age. It has decided to make everyone have a pension policy. Of course, inertia being what it is, individuals wouldn't get around to it or would decide not to bother even if there are laws that require it, and enforcement would just not work. The obvious answer is to make the employer do it, and that is what is going to happen.
Any one between 22 and state pension age (which will vary over time) must be enrolled into a pension scheme, and - here is the expensive bit - the employer must make contributions to the scheme. Agency workers will also come within the rules. "How much?" you will immediately be asking. It is not an entirely simple answer. 1% rising to 2% rising to 3% of salary, but not counting the first £5715 pa. Your next thought will be "What about the employee?" Most people do not do anything. Therefore the Government has decided that unless you opt out, you are in. If the employee does not opt out, the employer will deduct and pay in contributions starting at 1% rising to 3% then 5%.
The result is that when the phasing is over, an employee who does nothing will have a pension fund receiving contributions of 8% of salary (above the threshold).
But isn't this an administrative nightmare, you may be thinking? Possibly. But there are choices - there will be the option to run your own scheme (and if you do your provider will probably do all the work), or you may already have one which will need amending, or there will be the National Employment Savings Trust, doubtless so named so that it will carry the acronym "Nest". Its website went live on 11th October and is at: http://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/NestWeb/public/home/contents/homepage.html
When do you have to do this? If you are a big employer, by October 2012. All employers, no matter how small, will have to have this in place by February 2016. It is possible there may be some slippage on this - one of the intermediate steps has recently been deferred by a year - but it will happen.
And your last thought - what happens if I don't get round to it? The maximum fine the Pensions Regulator can impose is £10,000 a day. (That is not a typo!)
This short piece can be no more than a "heads up" - every company really ought to start planning how to organise this - and consider how it is to be paid for - right now.The government website has some information, and will be worth checking from time to time.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/Companyandpersonalpensions/DG_183783
What are the rights of employees when their company is sold or they are transferred?
By Caroline Mitchell employment lawyer at Beers LLP
The current industrial action by public sector employees aims to protect the already excellent terms and conditions of employment which they currently enjoy. In many cases these are far better than those enjoyed by the private sector.
The outsourcing of many public sector functions to the private sector over the past decade is set to continue under the current economic climate. The law under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 ensures that the contractual rights of employees in a business that is sold or transferred are continued and protected in the new business. This also applies when there is a service provision change.
This means that, when public sector employees transfer to the private sector during an outsourcing process, they still enjoy the same terms and conditions and more importantly, any collective agreements which they benefited from when they were with the public sector.
Collective agreements are negotiated by unions and apply across the board to all employees in the relevant sector. But what happens after the transfer? Do collective agreements still apply? What if the agreement is re negotiated after a couple of years? Does the new private sector employer find itself bound by union agreements which it had no opportunity to negotiate?
The answer is currently uncertain. A case has been marching through the hierarchy of English Court involving a number of employees, whose terms and conditions were negotiated with the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Their contracts provided that their terms and conditions were set by the NJC.
The Employment Appeal tribunal decided that a collective agreement will continue to bind the new employer even after it has been renegotiated and a new agreement created. This is called the "Dynamic Position" and links future pay increases to negotiations conducted in the collective bargaining forum.
The Court of Appeal disagreed, it favoured the "Static Interpretation" which sets a limit on the impact of a collective agreement so that the employer is only bound by the agreement which was in force at the time of the transfer.
The case went to the Supreme Court on the 15th June 2011 which sent the matter to the European Court of Justice for their ruling. We wait for their decision but until that happens, the Static Interpretation prevails.
Contact Caroline Mitchell at caroline.mitchell@beersllp.com or 01752 246012
South Hams Solicitor awarded Fellowship of Agricultural Law Association
Issued: 21 January 2011
Richard Jones, head of Property Law at Beers LLP, has become a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association, the highest specialist qualification which the Association can award. He is the first solicitor in the South Hams to receive this.
He was awarded his fellowship after passing an exam following a specialist course of study based at the Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester, confirming his specialist knowledge of rural property and business matters, covering rural property, litigation relating to landlord and tenant and trustee matters, town and country planning and agricultural subsidies, among others. In addition, he gained an examiner’s commendation for the quality of his examination performance.
Richard is a specialist property lawyer and leads a team of three dedicated property lawyers who deal with all kinds of rural, commercial and residential property. He said “I was extremely pleased to be awarded a Fellowship. The examination was very challenging and I look forward to passing on the benefits to Beers LLP’s new and existing agricultural clients.”
The Agricultural Law Association was founded in 1975 to provide a forum for professionals serving agriculture – lawyers, surveyors, accountants, bankers, farm business consultants and others – to support each other in their specialisms.
It is now the UK’s premier independent cross-disciplinary organisation dealing on an agenda-free, non-partisan, non-political basis with all matters arising in connection with rural business. The membership of over 1,000 include some of the leading practitioners in rural affairs in the UK and Europe today.
Paul Housego, the Senior Partner of Beers, said “Beers has always valued its agricultural roots and has served many agricultural families for generations. This award demonstrates not only our commitment to the agricultural sector but the firm’s determination to provide excellence in all it does.”
Beer's Senior Partner appointed to the Professional Conduct Committee of the Architects Registration Board
Issued: 18th October 2010
Paul Housego, Senior Partner of Beers LLP, has been appointed to be a chairman of the Professional Conduct Committee of the Architects Registration Board. Paul is one of only three solicitors in the UK who chair this disciplinary panel. The position is one nominated by the President of the Law Society, in conjunction with the ARB. The PCC is chaired by a Solicitor and deals with allegations of unacceptable professional conduct or serious professional incompetence is alleged against Architects. The Committee can impose a number of disciplinary sanctions, depending on the seriousness of the case, including erasure from the register of Architects.
Plymouth Chamber of Commerce - The voice of the Private Sector
The news that Regional Development Agencies (RDA's) are to be scrapped did not come as a total surprise but I suspect that the general view was that they would suffer severe budget cuts rather than be scrapped all together. The RDA's will be replaced by Local Enterprise Partnerships. It is still early days yet before we know how this is going to operate, but the vision is for the partnerships to influence such things as planning, local transport and infrastructure, employment and enterprise. There is an emphasis on supporting small business start ups. Plymouth Chamber is seizing this opportunity to build stronger relationships with the public sector and influencing local economic development in the region. This will include working with the University which are already committed to enterprise and partnership with the local business community.
The coalition goverment is particularly keen to promote working together between businesses and local councils and this has been very much on the agenda at the Chamber for some time. Our recent "Get Connected" event focused on how the public sector can benefit from the way the private sector do things. Clearly there are significant differences between the public and private sector in their approach to their activities. It is easy for the private sector to be critical, whilst not always aware of the constraints under which the public sector are working. For instance, the goverment will have to legislate to change the generous redundancy packages available to pulic sector workers, up to six years loss of earnings in some cases, while private sector employers can minimise their losses during a redundancy process by paying the statutory minimum if they do not have more generous packages written into their contracts. The coalition budget cuts, whilst being directed at the public sector, will also be felt by the private sector as the impact on supply chains and goverment contracts kicks in. We have already endured several years pay freezes, shorter working week and redundancies.
The goverment states it determination to "rebalance the economy towards the private sector" and regards local enterprise partnerships as being central to this vision. There will be several meetings over the next few weeks to formulate plans for the partnership and the Plymouth Chamber will be a significant player in this process. In so doing it will provide a voice for its membership and representation for the private sector.
Caroline Mitchell
Caroline Mitchell is a specialist Employment solicitor at Beers LLP based in Plymouth and a Director of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and Business.
Beers's donates to the Kingsbridge in Bloom 2010 Campaign to celebrate 125th Anniversary
Beers LLP is delighted to make a contribution towards the Kingsbridge in Bloom 2010 campaign as part of its 125th Anniversary celebrations. The contribution will enable Kingsbridge in Bloom to further improve the floral displays and improvements to public open spaces for the town's 2010 entry for the RHS South West in Bloom competition.
Maria Harding, Chief Executive of Beers LLP, said: "We were looking for a number of opportunites this year to "give something back" and Kingsbridge in Bloom fitted perfectly with this objective as its projects are at the heart of and for the benefit of the Kingsbridge community".
Graham Price, Project Manager of Kingsbridge in Bloom said: "Kingsbridge in Bloom are delighted to receive this donation from Beers LLP. Part of the RHS judging criteria is showing good local business support and this contirbution from such a respected company helps towards meeting this requirement."
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