Discretionary Benefits (Clause 2.9)

3.27  If the Contractor or a Sub-Contractor does have ABS, as a starting point, it would be prudent for the Authority to protect existing discretionary benefits of the transferring employees by having the Contractor agree to award pension benefits in accordance with the LGPS Regulations and the Compensation Regulations where such employees would have been eligible to receive them had they still been employed by the Authority. If the Contractor does not have ABS, again, as a starting point, the Authority should attempt to ensure that benefits are paid equal to those they would have been entitled to if they remained with the Authority. If the payment of such benefits is discretionary, the Contractor should be expected to comply with the Authority's written policy prior to the transfer.

Such rights would not ordinarily transfer by law in this situation. However, the Authority should seek some protection in the Agreement, although the extent of such protection is largely a matter of negotiation between the Authority and the Contractor. However, it would be prudent for the Authority to insist on some level of protection by, for example, insisting that the Contractor be obliged to abide by the Authority's practice for a specified number of years following the transfer.