To All Members
Circular 08/17
On 17th January 2017 Circular 02/17 was published providing members with an update regarding the Pension Age Employment Tribunal action being taken against the Government by the DPF in support of members.
We are now in a position to provide you with a further update regarding these proceedings. We were informed on Friday 10th March 2017 by our legal team that the necessary documents regarding our five employment tribunal cases consisting of 1017 individual claimants were formally served on the Government Legal department by the Tribunal.
The Government Legal Department now has 28 days from receipt of the documents in which to respond to our claims. It is expected that the Government will challenge our claims and will outline its position in their response.
You may be aware from the previous circular that the Judiciary filed similar Employment Tribunal Claims, which were successful; the Government has indicated that it intends to appeal this decision.
You may also be aware that the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) also brought similar employment Tribunal claims on behalf of their members. These claims however, were unsuccessful and the FBU has confirmed that they intend to appeal this decision.
These appeals are likely to take time to work through the Tribunal appeals process and may influence how our claims proceed through the Tribunal.
Clearly these are two very different judgements on similar cases, however while our cases are similar they do also differ in some areas.
Our legal team are confident that our cases are strong and we are therefore proceeding accordingly.
A further update will be provided once we receive a formal response from the Government legal department.
Paul Hunter
Pension Sub-Committee Chair
