Employment Tribunal determines method of calculating pension loss in successful unfair dismissal case

When calculating the future pension losses for a successful claim for unfair dismissal, the Employment Tribunal ruled in Jhuti v Royal Mail Group that it was appropriate to use the Ogden tables 3-18 (multiplier for loss of earnings). 

These are the tables used to help actuaries, lawyers and others calculate the lump sum compensation due in personal injury and fatal accident cases but are also used to calculate the cost of lost pension rights.

The case involved a DC scheme, and the Tribunal held that if it simply added up the value of all future contributions, without applying the discounts catered for by the multipliers in the Ogden tables (which considered the factors relevant for calculating future loss of earnings such as mortality and accelerated receipt), overcompensation could result. 

Although for DC pension schemes it is not necessary for either party to produce any actuarial or other expert evidence to support the submissions which are made, where a party seeks to persuade the Tribunal that it should depart from the standard approach envisaged by the Employment Tribunals: Principles for Compensating Pension Loss guidance, it is likely that that party will require some such evidence to persuade the Tribunal to do so.