Employment Tribunal Determines Method Of Calculating Pension Loss In Successful Unfair Dismissal Case – Employment Litigation/ Tribunals

When calculating the future pension losses for a successful
claim for unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal ruled in
Jhuti v Royal Mail Group that it was appropriate to use
the Ogden tables 3-18 (multiplier for loss of earnings).

These are the tables used to help actuaries, lawyers and others
calculate the lump sum compensation due in personal injury and
fatal accident cases but are also used to calculate the cost of
lost pension rights.

The case involved a DC scheme, and the Tribunal held that if it
simply added up the value of all future contributions, without
applying the discounts catered for by the multipliers in the Ogden
tables (which considered the factors relevant for calculating
future loss of earnings such as mortality and accelerated receipt),
overcompensation could result.

Although for DC pension schemes it is not necessary for either
party to produce any actuarial or other expert evidence to support
the submissions which are made, where a party seeks to persuade the
Tribunal that it should depart from the standard approach envisaged
by the Employment Tribunals: Principles for Compensating
Pension Loss guidance, it is likely that that party will
require some such evidence to persuade the Tribunal to do so.

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