Pensions - Gowling Wlg

Key Points TUPE is a very complicated area of employment law. It is particularly difficult when it interacts with pension rights. Specific legal advice is advised if you are dealing with pension rights under TUPE. TUPE does not generally apply to pension benefits. As a result, an employee's entitlement to pension benefits do not generally transfer under TUPE. There are, however, three key exceptions to this rule: Beckmann and Martin rights – rights to certain enhanced redundancy benefits and early retirement benefits may transfer under TUPE; minimum pension rights that apply in certain specific circumstances and, if they apply, provide transferring employees with limited protection by requiring the receiving employer to provide pension benefits in line with prescribed minima; and personal pension schemes – an individual's contractual rights in respect of a personal pension scheme (e.g. a Group Personal Pension (also known as GPPs)) will transfer automatically.