Court of Appeal - Pensions Decision

The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in Quirk v Burton Hospital NHS Trust.

It upholds the distinction in the approach to men and women in occupational pension schemes, holding that, under Article 141 of the Treaty of Amsterdam:

• a claim can be brought under the Equal Pay Act 1970, giving effect to Article 141, in all cases where different rules are applied to men and women for access into an occupational pension scheme (irrespective of dates); but,

• claims relating to the calculation of the level of benefits under a pension scheme can only be calculated with reference to pensionable service after 17th May 1990 (the date of the decision in Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange).

The full decision can be seen here.