Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

De Minimis definition

What does De Minimis mean? In practice, de minimis describes matters so trivial in scale or effect that a court or regulator will decline relief, impose no liability, or take no enforcement action. It is a common-law maxim applied through case law across the UK and Ireland; in some areas legislation or guidance sets explicit de minimis thresholds. Typical uses include rejecting negligible nuisance or trespass, treating insubstantial copying as not a “substantial part” in copyright, refusing an injunction for a technical or trivial contractual breach, awarding only nominal damages where loss is negligible, and regulatory forbearance in competition or planning where impact is minimal. The...

Section 75 employer debt in group restructurings: using the general and de minimis easements—eligibility, required steps, trustee decisions, costs and six-year look-back

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

Practice notes

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL Defined benefit PENSION SCHEMES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO THE Employer debt REQUIREMENTS

Corporate reorganisations frequently lead to an employment cessation event, for instance when employees move between group companies or when redundancies occur as part of the exercise. An employer debt under section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995 can accordingly be triggered, potentially frustrating the objective of the group reorganisation (usually to reduce expenditure for the group and/or strengthen its financial sustainability). For further information on ‘employment cessation events’, see Practice Note: When is a section 75 debt triggered? — An employment cessation event occurs in a multi-employer scheme.

Two Easements to the employer debt regime were introduced in April 2010 under the Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2010, SI 2010/725:

the general easement
the De minimis easement

Both easements are available where employers are carrying out group restructuring exercises. If a corporate restructuring meets the criteria for either easement, it will not amount to an employment cessation event and, as a result, no employer debt will be triggered...

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Chris Ransom

CMS

Chris is an associate in the CMS Pensions team. With over two years' experience, he advises a mix of employer, public sector and trustee clients on a broad range of advisory pensions issues. These include trustee and employer duties, automatic enrolment, amending scheme documentation and moral hazard/scheme funding issues. Chris' recent work has a particular focus on benefit redesign and liability management exercises. Following a six month secondment with the Pension Protection Fund, Chris also has a detailed working knowledge of the PPF levy, entry and compensation framework. Chris is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers and is also a contributor to CMS's Pensions Law Handbook. ...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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