01 December 2008
Allen & Overy have advised pension scheme trustees to check
up on scheme rules in preparation for the expected surge in
redundancies due to the economic downturn. Neil Bowden, partner at
the firm, said: "With older pension schemes it may not be clear how
the scheme rules work with particular types of redundancy, and the
consequence may be double payments, so it is worth checking it out
before sending out offers of redundancy terms to employees."
The rules become particularly important when assessing claims
with special circumstances, such as the overlap between ill-health
application and retirement.
Another factor trustees need to be aware of is the extra strain
put on funding by a redundancy programme.
