Death-in-service benefits meaning

Legislation safeguards the pension entitlements of members of occupational pension schemes and other employment‑related benefit arrangements, including workplace personal pension schemes that receive employer contributions, while they are away from work on statutory family leave. Statutory family leave encompasses: maternity leave paternity leave adoption leave parental leave shared parental leave parental bereavement leave carer’s leave Maternity leave Occupational pension schemes are taken to include a maternity equality rule requiring periods when a member is on maternity leave to be treated in the same manner as periods when they are not on maternity leave. This maternity equality rule applies to both paid and unpaid ordinary maternity leave (OML), as well as to paid additional maternity leave (AML). As a result, under this rule, time spent on OML and paid AML in a defined benefit (DB) scheme is recognised as pensionable service...

The employer and its advisers ought to reflect on the following matters: Preparatory steps From the employer, gather: a copy of the departing employee’s latest employment contract and any other documents setting out contractual terms (note: these might sit within a staff handbook) particulars of the employee’s contractual benefits pertinent details about the employee’s pension entitlements information on any shares/share options held by the employee; review the Articles of Association, any relevant shareholder agreement, and share scheme documentation. See also Shares and share options below Status of negotiations Will discussions occur directly between the parties, or via their respective legal advisers? How robust is the employer’s bargaining position? How credible are the employee’s existing or potential claims? For any dismissal, is there a fair reason and has a fair procedure been followed? Is the employer in repudiatory breach? What is the employer initially...

Checklist This Checklist summarises the issues an employer should evaluate when shaping a career break and/or sabbatical policy, and when setting the arrangements to support such leave. The expressions ‘career break’ and ‘sabbatical’ carry no fixed legal definition, and the title used for the break does not dictate its legal character. In practice: ‘Career break’ commonly denotes a longer spell of unpaid absence during which the employment contract may remain in place, though more frequently it does not; and ‘Sabbatical’ typically refers to a shorter period of leave, usually unpaid but potentially paid or partly paid, during which the contract does continue. For detailed information on career breaks and sabbaticals generally, see Practice Note Career breaks and sabbaticals...

STOP PRESS: This document is being revised to take account of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025), which updates the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. For more on the compliance impact of DUAA 2025, see Practice Note: Data (Use and Access) Act 2025—compliance implications... This Flowchart steers you through the lawful mechanisms for sending personal data to a country outside the UK, for example: an adequacy decision or regulation appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses (SCCs) or the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), or binding corporate rules (BCRs) a derogation Such transfers are barred by the data protection regime unless one of these tools is in place. These mechanisms exist to ensure data subjects remain protected when their personal data leaves the UK... The mechanisms follow a hierarchy, and this Flowchart helps you select the route most suitable for your organisation and processing operations... This Flowchart reflects the UK General Data...

In this issue: Horizon scanning Status and worker categories Benefits Prohibited conduct Unfair dismissal Settlement Employment tribunals Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning What to watch in Employment law this winter In 2025, the government’s suite of employment reforms has set the pace, yet noteworthy shifts in case law and workplace culture also merit close attention as winter draws in. Some updates will stem from regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority, which is anticipated to finalise guidance on tackling non-financial misconduct. Practitioners should also be mindful of the broader adoption of artificial intelligence, alongside a rise in employees voicing politically sensitive opinions at work, both of which demand vigilance as 2026 approaches. See Law360: What to watch in employment law this winter. Status and worker categories European Parliament ready to negotiate better...

In this issue Working time and flexible working Pay Tax Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) Employment tribunal equality claims Diversity and gender pay gap Industrial action Unfair dismissal Employment tribunals Immigration Northern Ireland ESG and sustainability: employment issues Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Working time and flexible working Code of Practice (Requests for Flexible Working) Order 2024 (SI 2024/429): The Order designates 6 April 2024 as the date on which the updated Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working, issued by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) under section 199 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992), takes effect. It also clarifies that the revised Code does not cover applications for flexible working made under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) that are lodged on or before 5 April 2024;...

In this issue: Employment Rights Act 2025 Benefits Protected characteristics Confidentiality, duties and restrictions: enforcement Europe-EU New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk®Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Employment Rights Act 2025 Welsh Government consults on establishment of a Social Care Negotiating Body The Welsh Government has opened a consultation on creating a Social Care Negotiating Body (SCNB) using powers in the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). The SCNB would be responsible for setting Fair Pay Agreements for Wales’s social care workforce. Feedback is invited on the organisation’s design, role and anticipated effects. Responses will inform the government’s understanding of sector perspectives on the SCNB, including the bargaining approach, who and what it should cover, dispute resolution, roll-out, as well as compliance and enforcement. The consultation closes on 28 April 2026. The exercise does not invite comments on the specifics...

Family office The phrase ‘family office’ spans a wide array of circumstances, so there is no universally agreed definition. The Family Firm Institute, however, characterises a family office as: ‘A separate entity apart from the operating business (and sometimes created with the assets realised after the sale of a family enterprise) consisting of a diversified wealth portfolio held for the benefit of the family’ (Family Enterprise; understanding Families in Business and Families of Wealth Wiley 2014 (not reported by LexisNexis®)). Such offices are largely, and more commonly, the preserve of high net worth—indeed ultra high net worth—families (ie those with investable assets above $30m), with varied holdings and complex affairs. That complexity can create scope for disputes. Nonetheless, with a well-designed structure supported by a clear strategy and effective family governance, a family office can yield substantial advantages. These benefits accrue not only to the family members themselves but also, through coordinated philanthropic efforts, to the broader community. Likely features of a family office include: a...

Firms sometimes extend low-interest (or interest-free) borrowing to directors or staff as part of a remuneration package, or on particular occasions, to assist the individual with major financial outlays. As with any other form of employment reward, where a loan is made by a third party rather than by the employer, the disguised remuneration rules in Part 7A of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003) must be considered first, since those provisions take precedence over most mechanisms for charging employment income to tax (including the benefits code). For further information, see: Disguised remuneration and EBTs—overview and, also, regarding the loan charge within the disguised remuneration rules, refer to Practice Note: Disguised remuneration—history of the loan charge. If no third party is involved (eg where the employer itself advances the loan), or an exemption from the disguised remuneration regime applies, the provisions in the benefits code for employment-related loans outlined below may instead govern the position for the particular loan in question...

This Practice Note sets out the principal steps for properly bringing to an end a defined contribution (DC) occupational pension scheme—also described as a money purchase occupational pension arrangement or a trust-based defined contribution plan. Throughout this Practice Note, this type of arrangement is termed a ‘DC scheme’. The guidance applies across a range of DC schemes, including trusts that sit outside the authorised master trust framework and small self-administered pension schemes (SSASs), although the latter may, in certain cases, be excluded from particular statutory obligations or requirements. This Practice Note does not cover the winding-up of any: an ‘authorised master trust’ under the Pension Schemes Act 2017 (PSA 2017)—for further detailed information, please see Practice Note: The authorisation and supervisory regime for master trusts, contract-based DC arrangements (eg group personal pension arrangements)—for further details and guidance, see Practice Note: Winding up of personal pension schemes Statute makes distinct and specific provision for hybrid schemes (combining defined benefit (DB) and DC...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The government has set out its proposals to apply inheritance tax to unspent pension pots on death, effective from 6 April 2027. For further details, please see News Analysis: HMRC confirms new IHT rules on unused pension funds to apply from 6 April 2027...

This Agreement is executed on [ date ] Parties 1 [ Name of company ] , a company constituted in [ Scotland ] bearing registered number [ number ] with its registered office at [ address ] (the Company ); and 2 [ Name of employee ] , of [ address ] ( you )...

This Agreement is made on [ insert date ] Parties [ Insert Employer’s name ], whose registered office is at [ insert Employer’s address ], company registration number [ insert Employer’s company number ] (Employer); [ Insert Employee’s name ] of [ insert Employee’s address ] (you). The parties agree: Termination of employment 1.1 Your employment with the Employer [ will terminate OR terminated ] owing to [ insert reason for termination ] on [ insert date ] (Termination Date). 1.2 For the period up to and including the Termination Date, you [ will be OR have been ] paid your accrued basic salary (less deductions for income tax and primary class 1 (employee) National Insurance contributions ( PAYE Deductions )) and [ will have OR have ] received your contractual benefits [ , including a payment of £[ insert amount ] in respect of [ insert number ] days’ accrued but untaken holiday entitlement ] [...

Under WTR 1998, workers get 5.6 weeks’ annual leave each year: a basic entitlement of four weeks’ leave (20 days for a standard full‑time worker) implementing article 7 of the Working Time Directive (WTD) an additional 1.6 weeks’ leave (eight days for a standard full‑time worker) created by domestic law only Understanding this distinction is important because: European Court of Justice case law concerns the WTD alone, so it applies only to the basic four weeks’ paid leave holiday pay is calculated differently for: the basic four weeks, and the additional 1.6 weeks The general rules as to the right to carry forward accrued holiday entitlement are that: the basic four weeks must be taken in the leave year earned and cannot be carried over (though an employer may choose to allow it) a relevant agreement may allow the additional 1.6...

Practice Note: TUPE—what pension benefits should the transferee provide? The Pensions Regulator, in its auto-enrolment guidance 2, indicates that when a TUPE transfer occurs, employees who move across are regarded as new joiners of the incoming employer (the transferee)...

The Finance Act 2004 (FA 2004) sets conditions for pensions and lump sums to be authorised payments. Under FA 2004, a member’s pension from a registered pension scheme must not begin before they reach the normal minimum pension age, unless the ill-health condition is met. In the same way, most lump sums are not payable before that age. The normal minimum pension age was 50 when FA 2004 took effect on 6 April 2006, rose to 55 from 6 April 2010, and will increase to 57 from 6 April 2028, excluding uniformed services pension schemes (army, navy, air force, police and firefighters). Transitional provisions preserve members’ subsisting rights to draw scheme benefits before age 55; this is referred to as a protection pension age. The Pensions Tax Manual confirms that, to hold a protected pension age, the member must have an unqualified right to receive benefits before the normal minimum pension age, i.e. not dependent on another person’s consent (PTM062210)...