Lloyds told to overhaul their pensions in landmark ruling
BRITAIN’S biggest high street bank has been told that it must overhaul its pension scheme so that male and female staff are able to enjoy the same benefits.
A decades-long dispute came to a head yesterday after the High Court ruled that Lloyds Banking Group’s pension trustee was “under a duty to amend the schemes in order to equalise benefits for men and women”.
The landmark ruling comes after three female members of the scheme claimed that their pensions were increasing at a lower rate than those of their male colleagues.
The decision, which affects socalled guaranteed minimum pensions for staff who worked there in the Nineties, means that Lloyds faces a hit of between £100m and £150m.
“The hearing focused on what is a complex and long-standing industrywide issue,” a Lloyds spokesman said. “The group welcomes the decision.”
The ruling will have implications for other companies that are facing similar cases.
Under the law at the time, GMP pensions were calculated differently for men and women so that it mirrored the state pension scheme.
Former pensions minister Steve Webb said that “thousands” of other companies would now face similar bills and should be putting money aside in preparation.
“This is the test case,” he said. “Everyone’s been waiting for this one. You would expect other companies to follow suit now. This will be pretty unwelcome following years of paying down deficits.”
Pensions consultancies have been warning for decades that the industry has been choosing to ignore the complex issue due to the expense and administrative headache.