Module LAW49015: Pensions Law

Department: Law

LAW49015: Pensions Law

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To understand how rights to pension and other benefits for current and former employees and their survivors under workplace pension schemes arise and are protected under trust law, contract law, pensions legislation and regulation in the UK and with comparative references to the different systems in certain other countries
• To learn the extent to which the UK system evolved to comply with EU law;
• To develop an understanding of the main legislative and regulatory regimes applicable to pension schemes in the UK and certain other countries (both outside and inside the EU) and the protection of scheme members’ rights through the study of selected topics;
• It is intended that students should acquire sufficient knowledge of these areas to provide them with a useful source both for future practice and for understanding of the pension rights which they may acquire in the future;
• To seek to develop students’ facility in the handling of “black letter law” areas, and, in particular, their ability to understand and apply legislation applicable to pension schemes and to analyse and reason from decided cases.
• To understand key principles of good governance for pension scheme trustee boards.
• To understand how companies and investors can manage the risks associated with pension schemes.
• To understand the main forms of dispute resolution available for making claims relating to pension rights and the administration of pension schemes.
• Overall, to give a blend of insights into key advisory, transactional and litigious aspects of workplace pensions.

Content

• A selection of topics in the following indicative areas will run in each particular year:
• Topic 1: An overview of the UK workplace pensions system and comparison with the systems in certain other countries
• This topic will introduce the various legal structures of workplace pension schemes and the benefits they provide to current and former employees and their families, with particular emphasis on the large occupational pension schemes set up by employers as trusts.
• Topic 2: The basic role and types of pension scheme trustees in the UK with some comparative reference to certain other common law countries
• This topic is an introduction to the basic role of trustees in managing trust-based workplace pension schemes and consideration of the types of trustees and trustee boards, ranging from those nominated and selected by the scheme members to those appointed by employers including professional corporate trustees. This will include some focus on good governance principles and how potential conflicts of interest might be managed.
• Topic 3: Role of the UK Pensions Regulator
• This topic considers the wide-ranging role, and potentially draconian powers, of the UK Pensions Regulator in supervising the management of workplace pension schemes including its powers to intervene and to impose financial and criminal sanctions.
• Topic 4: Scheme funding in the UK and pension scheme member protections on employer insolvency in the UK plus comparative reference to those protections in certain countries outside and inside the EU
• This topic considers the scheme funding duties on employers and trustees, the supervision of them by the UK Pensions Regulator and on employer insolvency the partial protection of pensions given by the Pension Protection Fund in the UK and comparison with protections on insolvency in certain other countries both outside and inside the EU. Particular focus will be given to how trustees ought to manage the tension between protecting members’ benefits and allowing the employer flexibility to maintain and grow its business, both where the funding of the scheme is in deficit and when it is in surplus.
• Topic 5: Corporate activity and the risk of financial and criminal sanctions
• This topic looks more closely at situations in corporate life such as restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, refinancings and insolvency processes where the position of the company’s UK pension scheme needs to be factored in. What techniques are available with the help of practitioners to protect the interests of the various stakeholders and avoid the imposition of financial or criminal sanctions by the Pensions Regulator?
• Topic 6: Scheme investment
• This topic examines the key investment duties of UK pension scheme trustees including how much risk they can take to generate returns, the extent to which they can factor in environmental, social and governance factors in their investment policies and the risks and consequences of a breach of their investment duties.
• Topic 7: The role of Ombudsmen in pensions dispute resolution in the UK, South Africa, Ireland and the Netherlands
• This topic provides a comparative overview of the powers and procedures of the Pensions Ombudsman services available to members of the public in the UK, South Africa, Ireland and Netherlands to resolve disputes. It also sets the UK Pensions Ombudsman’s office in context against other forums for litigation including the courts and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
• Topic 8: Challenging the decisions and actions in relation to UK pension schemes of the trustees and the employer
• This topic considers the main ways in which the decisions and actions of UK trustees and employers can potentially be challenged and the remedies available. There will be some focus on how trustees and employers can minimise such challenges through good governance.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will:
• learn how rights under a workplace pension scheme fit into the employment contract context and about the law protecting those rights and the structure of the legal and regulatory framework for workplace pension schemes in the UK and certain other countries;
• gain a good working insight into the application of pensions law to the practical realities of managing and funding workplace pension schemes;
• develop an understanding of good governance principles for trustee boards;
• learn about the duties of pension scheme trustees when investing scheme assets, including the extent to which ESG factors can be taken into account;
• learn how companies and investors need to factor into their business decisions the protective regulatory regime for workplace pension schemes;
• gain understanding of how disputes about pension rights and complaints about the administration of schemes can be litigated and how the risk of such disputes can be minimised;
• learn how various countries have designed Ombudsmen services for the public to deal with pensions disputes without having to go to court;
• gain an overall understanding of how pensions law operates in practice in commercial life.

• Students will be able to:
• apply the relevant pensions law to given factual scenarios and advise accordingly;
• analyse and evaluate the existing pensions law in its legal and commercial context;
• identify areas where there is most tension between the trustees’ duties to scheme members and the commercial needs of the sponsoring employer.

• Students will be able to:
• formulate practical advice and guidance for both trustees and employers on a range of commercial and dispute situations;
• demonstrate research, analytical and writing skills and ability to think critically;
• manage time efficiently and work independently within a limited time frame to complete a specified task.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching will be based on a series of 8 two hour small group interactive seminars. Students will be expected to engage in pre-seminar reading in preparation. The core principles of topics will be conveyed by seminars. Additional reading will be set to enable students to investigate some more complex aspects of the law in the scope of the module. Seminars will be used with a view to ensuring that the reading has been understood and to develop subject knowledge and subject skills as outlined above.
• Seminars will go beyond developing a basic level of understanding of pensions law to the practical aspects of applying law to commercial practice and the decisions that pension scheme trustees and the employers who sponsor those schemes are confronted with in real world settings. This will encourage students to learn the material and develop the ability to discuss and understand where each aspect of the reading fits in with the problem in hand.
• The summative assessment supports the aims of the teaching methods. The briefing paper to a fictional client will assess the ability of the students to apply pensions law to real world situations and consider pragmatic solutions to situations where there may be no clear-cut answer. The focus is on a structured, articulate analysis of the subject, with a specific focus on the practical and achievable handling of risk. Students will be given a choice of questions on which to write their briefing paper. This will provide the means for students to demonstrate their subject knowledge and development of problem-solving skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One written briefing paper of around 1,000 words

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University