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Canadian employment and labour quarterly
This newsletter will keep employers up to date on Canadian employment and labour developments and best practices.
United Kingdom | Publication | October 2024
When a scheme employer fails and responsibility for paying scheme benefits transfers to the PPF, there is a legal power for the PPF to modify the terms of contracts entered into by the scheme trustees. On October 15, 2024, the published an update to its 2010 guidance on modifying onerous contract terms.
The PPF’s standard procedure is to review during the assessment period any contracts that are expected to remain in place and transfer with the relevant scheme. If the PPF finds an onerous term or contract it will notify the counterparty and trustee explaining why it considers the term or contract to be onerous.
Although the PPF has not used its powers of disclaiming onerous contract terms to date, the test it uses is whether a term is “substantially unfair or manifestly prejudicial”. The PPF says it would not ordinarily seek to disapply or substitute terms in contracts that have been negotiated at arms’ length by trustees in the ordinary course of their trustee business, even if it is felt that the trustees negotiated a poor deal.
Examples of terms that could be caught, and which are examined closely in the assessment process, include those specifying charges on employer insolvency; contracts with parties connected to or associated with trustees; and restrictions of liability to third parties. A catch-all category covers "contracts entered into in the run-up" to an assessment period.
The PPF has published its 2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts revealing a robust financial position. As at March 31, 2024, PPF assets were £32bn and total liabilities were £19bn, compared to £33bn and £21bn respectively in 2023.
With such a healthy balance sheet, there have been recent calls for the PPF to reduce the risk-based levy on schemes to zero. The DWP has been lobbied to make the necessary change in the law.
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This newsletter will keep employers up to date on Canadian employment and labour developments and best practices.
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In this edition we provide a reminder of the main provisions and implications of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 since its Royal Assent, and discuss the potential for a long-awaited strategic shift for infrastructure projects following the formation of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority. We also discuss the outcome and significance of an interesting court of appeal case considering boundary agreements and provide an update on recent tax events affecting the real estate sector.
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Te Board of Directors of Pemex approved the Guidelines for Mixed Development Schemes of the Public State Company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Agreement CA-025/2025, the “Guidelines”), published in the Federal Official Gazette (DOF) on April 29, 2025.
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