# The Occupational Pension Schemes (Equal Treatment) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations.)
These Regulations amend the statutory provisions that require equal treatment of men and women in respect of occupational pension schemes. The amendments made by the Regulations reflect requirements of European Community law (specifically Article 141 of the Treaty of Rome on equal pay), as applied in a number of cases before the European Court of Justice and the domestic courts. Part 2 applies to occupational pension schemes generally. Parts 3 and 4 of the Regulations introduce new provisions applying only to armed forces occupational pension schemes.
Under Article 62 of the Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (“the Pensions Order”), occupational pension schemes that do not already contain provision for equal treatment are to be treated as if they contained an equal treatment rule. This enables a woman who receives less favourable treatment than a man in the same employment to complain to an industrial tribunal. Men treated less favourably than women may also present complaints. Article 63 of the Pensions Order applies to an equal treatment rule certain time limits and other provisions that are imposed by section 2 of the Equal Pay Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 (“the Equal Pay Act”) in relation to an equality clause in employment contracts. These time limits are modified, in their application to an equal treatment rule, by Article 63(4) of the Pensions Order and by the Occupational Pension Schemes (Equal Treatment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (“the 1995 Regulations”).
Regulation 3 repeals one of the modifications made by Article 63 of the Pensions Order. The effect of the repeal is that the period within which a person can institute proceedings before an industrial tribunal is the same for both an equal treatment rule and an equality clause.
Regulation 5 modifies the time limits that apply to proceedings about failure to comply with the equal treatment rule. Regulation 5(2) extends the time limits on the backdating of a declaration of a person’s right to be admitted to a pension scheme. Regulation 5(2) also removes the obligation on the employer to contribute funds where rights to be admitted to the scheme are backdated. Regulation 5(1) and (3) makes changes consequential on amendments to certain provisions of the Equal Pay Act which were made by the Equal Pay Act 1970 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004.
An equality clause applies to terms of an employment contract, including terms which relate to a person’s membership of, or treatment under, an occupational pension scheme. The operation of an equality clause in relation to such a scheme is subject to any modifications made by the Department under Article 66(4) of the Pensions Order. Regulation 6 makes changes relating to the operation of the equality clause in relation to a court or tribunal’s power to backdate a declaration of a person’s right to be admitted to a pension scheme. The effect is equivalent to the amendment made by regulation 5(2).
Parts 3 and 4 modify provisions of the Equal Pay Act 1970 that relate to armed forces. Part 3 modifies such provisions in relation to the operation of an equal treatment rule in respect of an armed forces occupational pension scheme. Part 4 modifies such provisions as they affect the operation of an equality clause on terms of service in the armed forces which relate to the way in which persons become members of such a scheme, or members of such a scheme are treated. These Parts make provision equivalent to that made by the 1995 Regulations as amended by Part 2 of these Regulations.
The changes made by the Regulations reflect the requirements of Article 141 as applied in a number of cases before the European Court of Justice and the domestic courts and are detailed in a Note which has been laid in the Business Office and the Library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies of the Note are available from the Department for Social Development, Social Security Policy and Legislation Division, Level 1, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Gasworks Business Park, Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 2JA.
An assessment of the cost to business of these Regulations is detailed in a Regulatory Impact Assessment, copies of which have been laid in the Business Office and the Library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies of the Assessment are available from the Department for Social Development, Social Security Policy and Legislation Division, Level 1, James House, 2-4 Cromac Avenue, Gasworks Business Park, Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 2JA.
As these Regulations, in so far as they are made under Part II of the Pensions Order, make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain, the requirement for consultation under Article 117(1) of the Pensions Order does not apply by virtue of paragraph (2)(e) of that Article.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2005/377/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/occupational-pension-schemes-equal-treatment-amendment-regulations-northern-ireland-2005/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.