Equality Act 2004

• Permanent Page URL

Part 4

Amendment of Pensions Act 1990

Amendment of Pensions Act 1990.

66.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 83 (as applied by section 81J(2) (inserted by section 22 of the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004 ) of the Pensions Act 1990 ) of the Act of 1998, the Labour Court shall cease to have jurisdiction under Part VII (as so inserted) of the said Act of 1990 in cases of dismissal in circumstances amounting to discrimination or victimisation.

(2) A case which was referred to the Labour Court before the commencement of this section and which, but for subsection (1), would fall to be investigated by the Court under section 79(1) (as so applied) of the Act of 1998 shall—

(a) if, on the date of such commencement, the Court has not begun to investigate the case, be transferred by the Court to the Director as if it had been referred to him or her in the first instance, and the Pensions Acts 1990 to 2004 shall apply accordingly in relation to it, with any necessary modifications, and

(b) in any other case, be treated for all purposes as if subsection (1) had not been enacted.

(3) The Pensions Act 1990 is amended—

(a) in section 65 (inserted by section 22 of the said Act of 2004), by substituting “Director of the Equality Tribunal” for “Director of Equality Investigations” in subsection (1),

(b) in section 81E (as so inserted)—

(i) by substituting “subsections (3) to (6)” for “subsections (2) to (6)” in subsection (1),

(ii) by deleting subsection (2),

(iii) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) If the grounds for such a claim arise in relation to a breach of the principle of equal pension treatment on the gender ground, the person making the claim may, subject to subsections (4) to (7) and section 81F(1), seek redress by referring the case to the Circuit Court instead of to the Director.”,

(iv) by substituting the following for the definition of “the complainant” in subsection (4):

“‘the complainant’ means—

(i) the person by whom it is referred, or

(ii) where such a person is unable, by reason of an intellectual or a psychological disability, to pursue it effectively, his or her parent, guardian or other person acting in place of a parent;”

and

(v) by deleting “, the Labour Court” in subsection (6),

(c) in section 81F (as so inserted)—

(i) by deleting “, (2)” in subsection (2),

(ii) by deleting “Effect” in subsection (4)(c) and inserting “Unless otherwise agreed by the complainant and respondent, effect”, and

(iii) by deleting subsection (5),

(d) in section 81H (as so inserted)—

(i) by substituting “section 81E;” for “section 81E.” in subsection (1),

(ii) by adding the following paragraph to that subsection:

“(e) an order for re-instatement or re-engagement, with or without an order for compensation.”,

(iii) by deleting subsection (2),

(iv) by substituting the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) The types of redress for which the Circuit Court may provide on a reference under section 81E(3) are such one or more of the orders referred to in subsection (1) as may be appropriate in the circumstances of the case, and no enactment relating to the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court shall be taken to limit the amount of compensation which may be ordered by the Circuit Court by virtue of this subsection.”,

(v) by inserting “or (1)(e)” after “(1)(d)” in subsection (4) and by deleting “or the Labour Court” and “or by that Court under subsection (2)(b)” in that subsection,

(vi) by deleting “or the Labour Court” and “or the Labour Court, as the case may be,” in subsection (5), and

(vii) by deleting “, Labour Court” in subsection (8),

(e) in section 81J (as so inserted), by substituting “76, 77A” for “76” in subsection (2),

(f) in the Fourth Schedule (as so inserted)—

(i) by substituting “74(3), 76(1), 78(5), 79(1), 79(3A)” for “76(1), 78(5), 79(1),” and deleting “84(1)”, “101(5), 101(6)(a)” in column (2) opposite reference number 4,

(ii) by deleting reference number 7,

(iii) by substituting “Section 83(6)” for “Sections 79(4) and 83(6)” in column (2) opposite reference number 9,

(iv) by substituting “85(1) to 85(5), 85(6)” for “85” in column (2), and substituting “Authority” for “authority” in column (3), opposite reference number 12,

(v) by substituting “‘paragraph (c) or (f) of section 82(1)’ ” for “‘section 82(2)’ ” in column (3) opposite reference number 27,

(vi) by substituting “section 81H(1)” for “section 81H(2)” in column (4) opposite reference number 27, and

(vii) by inserting the following after reference number 30: