Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Social policy ° Men and women ° Equal pay ° Bridging pension paid by a private occupational scheme ° Calculation ° Amount of the pension lower, in the case of men and women aged between 60 and 65, for women employees because account is taken of their entitlement to a State pension from the age of 60 ° Permissible

(EEC Treaty, Art. 119)

2. Social policy ° Men and women ° Equal pay ° Bridging pension paid by a private occupational scheme ° Calculation ° Account taken both of the full State pension in the case of women who have paid contributions at a reduced rate and are entitled only to a reduced pension or no pension, and of the widow' s pension, which is equivalent to the State pension ° Permissible

(EEC Treaty, Art. 119)

Summary

1. It is not contrary to Article 119 of the Treaty, when calculating the amount of a bridging pension which is paid by an employer to male and female employees who have taken early retirement on grounds of ill health and which is intended to compensate, in particular, for loss of income resulting from the fact that they have not yet reached the age required for payment of the State pension, to take account of the amount of the State pension which they will subsequently receive and to reduce the amount of the bridging pension accordingly, even though, in the case of men and women aged between 60 and 65, the result is that a female ex-employee receives a smaller bridging pension than that paid to her male counterpart, the difference being equal to the amount of the State pension to which she is entitled as from the age of 60 in respect of the periods of service completed with that employer.

2. It is not contrary to Article 119 of the Treaty, when calculating the bridging pension, to take account of the full State pension which a married woman would have received if she had not opted in favour of paying contributions at a reduced rate, entitling her to a reduced pension only, or not entitling her to a pension, or of the widow' s pension which may be drawn by the woman concerned and which is equivalent to a full State pension.

To compel a company to make up for the loss of State pension arising directly from the woman' s decision to pay contributions at a reduced rate would amount to conferring an unfair advantage on married women taking early retirement, who have opted to pay contributions at that rate, in relation to persons who had no such choice and have always had to pay contributions at the full rate, namely men and unmarried women, as well as to married women who have not exercised the option available to them. By the same token, it would be unfair not to take account of the payment of a widow' s pension equivalent to a full State pension, inasmuch as that would also give rise to unequal treatment by favouring women in receipt of a widow' s pension in relation to men and married women entitled to a full State pension which would be taken into account in calculating the amount of the bridging pension.